As highlighted in the DOJ Guidance, ongoing and updated training, clear policies, and responsive accountability systems for law enforcement help improve outcomes and increase the safety of survivors and communities. Numerous national training and technical assistance providers have developed resources that seek to highlight promising practices and ongoing research, informed by the experiences of survivors and based on victim-centered and trauma-informed approaches.
This section includes the following sub-sections: a) Overview of Addressing and Preventing Gender Bias; b) Domestic Violence Specific Resources; c) Sexual Assault Specific Resources; d) Trauma-Informed Interviewing; and e) Additional General Resources
Overview of Addressing and Preventing Gender Bias
Enhancing Community Trust: Proactive Approaches to Domestic and Sexual Violence
As part of its federally-funded Enhancing Community Trust: Proactive Approaches to Domestic & Sexual Violence initiative, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) released this toolkit containing a law enforcement agency self-assessment, community assessment, sample outreach letter, action planning guide, and additional considerations and resources to support enhancing agency response to victims.
Addressing and Preventing Gender Bias Infographic
This infographic from the International Association of Chiefs of Police provides an overview of key terms and principles to promote accurate, evidence-based beliefs about sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking.
Balancing the Scales of Justice
The “Balancing the Scales of Justice” webinar series outlines what gender bias is, its impacts on domestic and sexual violence investigations, and strategies for leaders to identify and address it within their agencies.
Gender Bias in Sexual Assault Response and Investigation
This 4-part bulletin series explores gender bias, both explicit and implicit, and the resulting stereotypes and attitudes that can influence the professional response to, and investigation of, sexual assault.
Domestic Violence Specific Resources for Law Enforcement
Uncovering Sexual Assault in Domestic Violence Calls: An Improved Law Enforcement Response to Assess for Sexual Violence, Build an Evidence Based Case and Reduce Gender Bias (Webinar), End Violence Against Women International, November 2018
Summary: This webinar explains how law enforcement can sensitively assess for sexual violence in domestic violence situations and build an evidence-based case through investigation and prosecution. Materials to help develop policies, protocols, and training, as well as reduce gender bias in policing are also included.
Model Policy: Domestic Violence
This model policy provides guidance regarding the establishment of priorities, guidelines, and procedures for law enforcement officers in response to domestic violence calls.
Intimate Partner Violence Response Policy and Training Content Guidelines
These guidelines address investigative procedures and promising practices for law enforcement for working with victims of intimate partner violence.
Response to Non-Lethal Strangulation Report Review Checklist
This checklist assists law enforcement in ensuring that reports contain significant and comprehensive details when it comes to reports of non-lethal strangulation.
The Crime of Domestic Violence Roll-Call Video
These informational videos educate law enforcement about domestic violence and how to respond to domestic violence calls.
Response to Domestic Violence Report Review Checklist
This checklist is a tool for law enforcement officers to review and assess whether they have adequately created a report in cases of domestic violence.
Predominant Aggressor Determination
This podcast assists law enforcement on determining who is the predominant aggressor when responding to a DV report.
Protecting Victims of Domestic Violence: A Law Enforcement Officer's Guide to Enforcing Orders of Protection Nationwide
This booklet is a primer on orders of protection and full faith in credit. This guide helps law enforcement better implement the “full faith and credit” component of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, which requires law enforcement officers to enforce valid orders across the boundaries of states, tribes, and territories.
Response to Protection Order Violations Report Review Checklist
This checklist serves as a tool for law enforcement officers to review and assess whether they have adequately created a report in cases where there is a violation of a protection order.
Strangulation and Domestic Violence
This webinar discusses the findings of medical research from Louisville, Kentucky on strangulation in the context of domestic violence. Faculty consider “best practices” in domestic violence strangulation cases for law enforcement, expert witnesses, prosecutors and judges.
Domestic Violence Safety and Accountability Audit Podcast
This podcast summarizes what a domestic violence safety and accountability audit is, outlines the components of an audit, and demonstrates the benefits of an audit to the agency, community, and victims.
Report from the San Mateo Domestic Violence and Accountability Assessment: How Does Documentation of the Initial Police Response to a Domestic Violence Call Aid Subsequent Interveners in Domestic Violence Cases?
Three police departments participated in an accountability assessment focused on the question: How does documentation of the initial police response to domestic violence calls aid subsequent interveners in domestic violence cases? This report identifies the gaps between what people experience and need and what institutions provide, offering recommendations for addressing these gaps.
Opposing the Arrest of Petitioners for Violations of Their Own Protection Orders
This Resolution was adopted at the 119th Annual Conference in San Diego, CA on October 3, 2012. The International Association of Chiefs of Police resolved that policies supporting the arrest of and criminal consequences for victims for violations of their own protection orders are harmful and counterintuitive and should be avoided as they undermine the purpose of the system that was created to protect victims and hold perpetrators of crime accountable.
Evaluation of a Domestic Violence Program for Law Enforcement
This write-up discusses the findings from a follow-up evaluation to ascertain the training impacts of a Domestic Violence law enforcement training administered to cadets at the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) academy in Nevada.
Illinois Integrated Protocol Initiative Training Evaluation Report 2015-2017
This report discusses the findings from an evaluation of a domestic violence investigations training for law enforcement to determine if the training resulted in increased participant confidence in working domestic violence and abuse cases and knowledge of evidence-based procedures to document and investigate these cases.
Sexual Assault Specific Resources for Law Enforcement
Reducing Gender Bias in Sexual Assault Response and Investigation – Part 1
This webinar series explores the phenomenon of gender bias and the resulting stereotypes and attitudes that can influence the professional response to, and investigation of, sexual assault. Part 1 begins by introducing the concept of implicit bias, and then address key questions about how this can influence sexual assault dynamics and responses.
Reducing Gender Bias in Sexual Assault Response and Investigation – Part 2
This webinar series explores the phenomenon of gender bias and the resulting stereotypes and attitudes that can influence the professional response to, and investigation of, sexual assault. Part 2 resumes the discussion with an exploration of how gender bias affects victim blaming after the sexual assault.
Sexual Assault Incident Reports: Investigative Strategies
The goal of these guidelines is to support officers and departments in preparing sexual assault cases for successful prosecution through detailed case documentation and thorough investigations.
Sexual Assault Incident Reports: Pocket Tip Card
This pocket tip card for officers is a convenient, portable resource to accompany the IACP's Sexual Assault Incident Reports: Investigative Strategies.
Sexual Assault Supplemental Report Form
This is a form used for trauma informed reporting of incidents of sexual assault.
Response to Sexual Assault Report Review Checklist
This checklist serves as a tool for law enforcement officers to review and assess whether they have adequately created a report in cases of sexual assault.
Gender Bias in Sexual Assault Response and Investigation
This 4-part bulletin series explores gender bias, both explicit and implicit, and the resulting stereotypes and attitudes that can influence the professional response to, and investigation of, sexual assault.
False Reports: Moving Beyond the Issue to Successfully Investigate and Prosecute Non-Stranger Sexual Assault
The information from this module answer questions that have historically created significant hurdles for sexual assault victims and addresses issues of false reporting.
Start by Believing to Improve Responses to Sexual Assault and Prevent Gender Bias
This training bulletin delves into the challenges that have been raised with the Start by Believing campaign, and the underlying philosophy of victim-centered approaches. In particular, this document addresses defense cross-examination aimed at exposing the law enforcement investigation of a sexual assault as biased.
Sexual Assault Response Team Toolkit: Strangulation
This toolkit provides a comprehensive set of resources about strangulation in the context of sexual assault. It introduces a model protocol for law enforcement, medical professionals, advocates, and prosecutors.
Improving the Police Response to Sexual Assault
This guide is a part of the Critical Issues in Policing Series and offers information and tools based on updated statistical findings on prevalence and incidence of sexual assault, changes in crime reporting definitions, special considerations in working with cases of sexual violence, and feedback from advocates on the benefits of incorporating external review.
The Road Ahead: Unanalyzed Evidence in Sexual Assault Cases
This NIJ special report outlines the issue of untested sexual assault kits that remain in law enforcement custody and evidence rooms and the impact that these kits have on communities and sexual assault response. The report addresses victim notification and protocol when a kit is sent for testing and appropriate follow up.
Trauma-Informed Interviewing
Effective Victim Interviewing: Helping Victims Retrieve and Disclose Memories of Sexual Assault, End Violence Against Women International.
Summary: The purpose of a law enforcement interview with a sexual assault victim is to help them: (1) remember details about their sexual assault, and (2) share those details with investigators. The investigator’s role is then to document this information and evaluate it within the context of the entire investigation. This module offers a brief overview of the scientific research on stress, trauma, and memory, as well as the unique dynamics of sexual assault. This information is then applied to the practical tasks involved in the initial response to a sexual assault report, follow-up interviews, and documentation. It also addresses the impact of interviews on investigators themselves, and offers ways for law enforcement agencies to support investigators and high-quality sexual assault investigations.
Law Enforcement Response: Approaching Your Work with a Trauma–Informed Lens
This webinar provides insight into the surprising similarities of victims and police officers that will help connect the complex thought patterns of a victim in trying to survive the moment and in the long term.
Trauma-Informed Policing Interview with Captain Altovise Love-Craighead
In this video, Philadelphia Police Department Captain Altovise Love-Craighead discusses the fundamentals of trauma-informed policing, including how de-escalation can interrupt cycles of violence.
Introducing the Trauma-Informed Practice (TIP) Scales for Domestic Violence Programs
In this webinar, presenters describe the development of the Trauma Informed Practice (TIP) Scales, which measure the degree to which programs engage in trauma-informed practices from the perspective of program participants.
Trauma Informed Sexual Assault Investigation Training
The Trauma Informed Sexual Assault Investigation Training provides law enforcement and multi-disciplinary community partners with information on the neurobiology of trauma and investigative strategies to respond to sexual assault crimes in a victim-centered, trauma-informed manner.
Shifting the Paradigm for Investigating Trauma Victimization
This resource outlines the Forensic Experiential Trauma Interview (FETI), an interviewing method that uses information about the parts of the brain that experience trauma.
Additional General Resources
Law Enforcement Response to Domestic and Sexual Violence and COVID-19
On April 23, 2020, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) hosted a Virtual Roundtable on COVID-19 and Law Enforcement Response to Domestic and Sexual Violence. Included is a recording of the virtual roundtable and a compilation of resources, such as webinars, libraries, and lists that were referenced.
Impact of Language Access and the Requirements of Title VI on Law Enforcement
Failure to utilize qualified interpreters increases risk to officer and community safety, jeopardizes criminal investigations and prosecutions, and can result in the loss of federal funding. This webinar addresses the widespread problem of police failure to access qualified interpreters and the problems associated with using unqualified interpreters.
What Criminal Justice Professionals Should Know About Campus Disciplinary Processes
This webinar compares the way in which gender-based violence is addressed on campus with the criminal process, and explains how these processes can proceed concurrently. It also discusses the effects of compressed campus investigations and explains why college reporting procedures proceed as they do.
Response to Stalking Report Review Checklist
This checklist helps to ensure that law enforcement officers adequately respond to and adequately report cases of stalking.
Turning the Case Upside Down: Rethinking the Art and Science of Suspect Interviews
This webinar reviews the history of interrogation techniques and discusses the impact of numerous suspect interview/interrogation techniques and the efficacy of these techniques, including substantial research that will assist fact-finders in determining some shortfalls in current interview techniques.
Body-Worn Cameras and Violence Against Women: Policy and Program Development
This webinar from IACP presents information about the creation or update of body-worn camera policies and programs highlighting the considerations specific to intimate partner violence including domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Body-Worn Cameras and Violence Against Women: Victim Safety and Confidentiality
This webinar from IACP presents information about balancing victim safety and confidentiality with officer safety and accountability. It highlights safety and confidentiality issues that should be considered as body-worn camera programs are created or updated, include video release, retention and viewing.
Body-Worn Cameras and Violence Against Women: Vulnerable Populations and Community Trust
This webinar presents information about body-worn camera program development and considerations when responding to immigrants, individuals who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community, minors, and other specific populations.
National Forum on Body-Worn Cameras and Violence Against Women
These documents compile the deliberations and considerations of the IACP National Forum on Body-Worn Cameras and Violence Against Women, a multidisciplinary, national forum on creating effective victim-centered body-worn camera policies and programs for law enforcement.