Building meaningful and trust-based relationships between law enforcement and advocates can often be difficult, for both law enforcement and advocates alike. This section provides resources for both law enforcement officers and advocates on how to build stronger relationships in order to improve the response to domestic violence and sexual assault victims.
What Advocates Need to Know About Law Enforcement’s Role (Part 1: CCR Problem-Solving Series: The Role of Law Enforcement), Battered Women’s Justice Project, Webinar, May 2017.
Summary: The two presenters in this webinar, an advocate and law enforcement officer, discuss the role of law enforcement in the response to intimate partner violence (IPV) crimes. The webinar discusses the building blocks of a good relationship between law enforcement and advocates, illuminates the jargon commonly used by police officers, discusses police culture, and shares how police implement their many directives when responding to IPV. The presentation highlights common challenges and solutions involving information sharing that occur between advocates and police and gives helpful suggestions for building and maintaining the vital relationships between these critical first responders to gender-based violence
Identifying and Ending Gender Bias in Our Agencies, Battered Women’s Justice Project, March 2017.
Summary: This webinar introduces the audience to the latest guidance from the Department of Justice (DOJ) with respect to identifying and responding to gender bias in law enforcement, as well as rape crisis and domestic violence organizations. An overview of the legal requirements is paired with potential solutions. A number of potential paths to effectively responding to gender bias are discussed, including: a DOJ Office of Violence Against Women Roundtable on the topic; the recent Baltimore consent decree; and the presenter’s professional experience in facilitating support groups for male victims of violence, among others.