About Broken Badge
An investigative podcast examining Deputy Abby Bieber’s story and the broader issue of officer-involved domestic violence.
Understanding what institutions did.
Broken Badge examines what happens when domestic violence occurs inside the institutions responsible for responding to it.
Through interviews, records, reporting and first-person accounts, the series looks at warning signs, institutional responses and the policies that can either protect people or fail them.
Broken Badge is not traditional true-crime entertainment. Its purpose is understanding, accountability and prevention: recognizing where systems can fail and what can be done differently.
“Every institution says it takes this seriously. The question is simpler: what did it actually do?”
Why this matters
Officer-involved domestic violence is not a problem without possible interventions. Researchers at Florida State University and the University of Michigan studied how law-enforcement officers responded before and after completing FSU’s National Prevention Toolkit on Officer-Involved Domestic Violence.
The results showed meaningful changes in how officers said they would respond to suspected OIDV.
Source: Florida State University College of Social Work
- 47%Would be likely to arrest
- After the training, 47% of officers said they would be likely to arrest the perpetrator, compared with 26% before the training.
- 74.9%Would help connect a victim with services
- After training, 74.9% said they would be likely to help the victim obtain assistance through a domestic-violence hotline or center, compared with 41.4% before training.
- 84%More willing to intervene
- 84% of participating officers reported that they were more willing to intervene in suspected cases of officer-involved domestic violence after completing the training.
79% also reported that the training would increase officers’ willingness to report other officers for OIDV.
Self-reported responses from officers who took part in the FSU study — not statistics describing all law-enforcement officers nationally. Study by Karen Oehme, J.D.; Daniel Saunders, Ph.D.; and Stephanie Grace Prost, MSW. FSU does not endorse Broken Badge or Action for Abby.
“Evidence suggests that police officers benefit from prevention training on officer-involved domestic violence.”
— Florida State University College of Social Work
Nearly 80% of participating officers said the “training can be used by officers to keep their families safe.”
This study demonstrated that law enforcement is capable of addressing OIDV when officers are given focused training, clear tools and practical resources.
The findings support a constructive approach: prevention, training and stronger systems can help officers respond more effectively while protecting law-enforcement families and the communities they serve.
FSU researchers recommended that agencies implement OIDV training, prepare resources such as Employee Assistance Programs and chaplains to address OIDV, and establish policies that give officers clear direction for prevention and intervention.
Better tools can lead to better responses — for officers, victims and law-enforcement families.
Read the FSU studyWho makes Broken Badge
Olivia Farr
Producer / Executive Producer
Olivia Farr has spent her career helping launch and manage nonprofit organizations, including Healthy Babies Bright Futures, the Avon Theatre Film Center and Bedford 2030. She has served on the boards of the Westchester Land Trust, St. Mark’s School, Maplebrook School and the John Merck Fund. As a co-founder of Bedford 2020, she helped build a community response to climate change and served the organization in leadership roles across strategy, finance, food and agriculture.
John Farr
Producer / Executive Producer
John Farr is an independent viewer's advocate and film curator for the discerning crowd, guiding smart audiences to smart films. He is an executive producer of Broken Badge and part of the team behind the series and its public-impact campaign.
Jamie Bruce
Producer / Executive Producer
Jamie Bruce began his career working with filmmaker Louis Malle on productions including Atlantic City and My Dinner with André, and later edited Alamo Bay and the documentary God’s Country. From 2018 to 2023, he served as executive vice president of production at XG Productions, where his work included the 2021 return of America’s Most Wanted and the documentary series Indivisible: Healing Hate. In 2024, he co-founded Big Love Studios.
Bruce Bieber
Abby’s Father and Advocate
Bruce Bieber is Deputy Abby Bieber’s father and an advocate for greater awareness, accountability and prevention around officer-involved domestic violence. A retired father of three children who entered law enforcement, Bruce became deeply involved in this issue after Abby’s death in January 2022. In trying to understand what happened to his daughter, he began examining the warning signs, policies and institutional responses that surround domestic violence involving law-enforcement personnel. Since then, Bruce has worked to keep Abby’s story from ending with her death. His focus is on education, stronger policies, better training and meaningful reforms that can help identify warning signs earlier and protect other families from experiencing the same loss. For Bruce, the goal is simple: honor Abby by helping turn what happened to her into change that can save lives.
How we handle this story
Broken Badge covers a real tragedy and a serious public issue. The series is intended to approach those stories with care, accuracy and respect.
Participants and survivors
People sharing their experiences should be treated as participants in the reporting, not simply material for a story.
Accuracy and response
Reporting should be grounded in interviews, records, documentation and appropriate sourcing.
What we don’t do
No gratuitous descriptions of violence. No sensationalized reenactments. No entertainment built around someone’s danger. No compromising survivor safety for content.
Our relationship to law enforcement
Broken Badge examines accountability failures within law enforcement. It is not an indictment of every law-enforcement officer. Many people advocating for reform in this series are themselves current or former law-enforcement professionals.
Questions or inquiries: info@brokenbadge.org
Support Broken Badge
Independent reporting and impact work continue long after an episode is published. Support helps Broken Badge continue the reporting, public education, outreach and policy work surrounding officer-involved domestic violence.
Reporting
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Education
Bring this issue and the solutions surrounding it to a larger audience.
Action
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