Identifying and Preventing Gender Bias
The IACP is proud to offer a wide-reaching program to ensure that police agencies and communities are equipped with the tools and resources to collectively develop accountability systems and adopt promising practices to address gender bias in law enforcement response to sexual assault and domestic violence.
New Training and Technical Assistance Opportunity!
The IACP is excited to announce the launch of a new technical assistance project, Proactive Approaches to Domestic and Sexual Violence: Recognizing and Eliminating Gender Bias in Law Enforcement. Funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), this project offers a unique opportunity for police agencies committed to establishing or enhancing their policies, practices, and training, aligned with the principles outlined in the Department of Justice’s guidance on Improving Law Enforcement Response to Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. Selected sites will receive free training and support to build on existing strengths and address identified challenges.
The application can be found here: Apply today!
Deadline: Submit the application and all supplemental materials by Friday, December 13, 2024, at 11:59 PM EST.
Please email [email protected] with any questions.
Agency Self-Assessment and Community Assessment
The landscape of law enforcement is constantly evolving. Given this dynamic context, IACP's agency self-assessment and accompanying community assessment are valuable tools for thinking critically about current practices and identifying areas of strength and opportunities to update and enhance services. Information gleaned from these assessments enables law enforcement leaders to candidly and thoughtfully evaluate their practices and policies to create stronger responses to reports of domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking, and strangulation.
To access the assessments and related resources, click here.
Tip Sheets
These tip sheets provide strategies for enhancing your agency’s response to domestic and sexual violence by focusing on key areas such as agency mission, the role of supervisors, and collaboration with local partners.
10 Things to Know: Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Domestic and Sexual Violence
Five Things Supervisors Can Do
Gaining Buy-In, Building Trust, and Operationalizing Values
Six-Step Process: Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Domestic and Sexual Violence
Recorded Webinars
Critical Need for Law Enforcement Agencies to Identify Gender Bias in Responses to Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence: Chief Tom Tremblay (ret.) and Dave Thomas outline the concept of gender bias and its potential impact on agency responses to reports of sexual assault and domestic violence.
Witness Intimidation: Lt. Mark Wynn (ret.) leads a discussion on what law enforcement needs to know about witness intimidation when working on crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, strangulation, and stalking.
Removal of Weapons and Firearms from the Hands of DV Offenders: Chief Deputy John Guard, from the Pitt County, NC, Sheriff’s Office, discusses what law enforcement needs to know about the removal of weapons and firearms from the hands of perpetrators of domestic and sexual violence.
Law Enforcement and Building Trust with LGBTQI+ Communities: Sergeant Denise Jones, with the Clark County Sheriff's Office (OH), discusses how police departments can build trust with LGBTQI+ communities in their jurisdiction in order to increase the reporting of crimes of domestic and sexual violence in such minority groups.
Interactions with the Media: Chief Fred Fletcher (ret.), from the Chattanooga Police Department (TN), discusses how police departments can work with the media to deliver victim-centered and trauma-informed messaging to the community, while also utilizing the media to highlight agency successes around responding to crimes of domestic and sexual violence.
Vicarious Trauma Webinar Series - Part 1 - Officers and Vicarious Trauma When Responding to Domestic and Sexual Violence: Sergeant Chris Scallon (ret.), Norfolk Police Department (VA), Lisa Tieszen M.A., LICSW, and Katherine Manners M.Ed., LMFT discuss the work-related trauma exposure that officers often experience when responding to cases of domestic violence and sexual assault, what individuals working on these crimes can do to take care of their mental health and wellbeing in order to mitigate the negative effects of this secondary trauma, and what agencies can do to support their employees who are experiencing vicarious trauma due to responding to these cases.
Vicarious Trauma Webinar Series - Part 2 - Individual Strategies to Address Vicarious Trauma: Sergeant Chris Scallon (ret.), Norfolk Police Department (VA), Lisa Tieszen M.A., LICSW, and Katherine Manners M.Ed., LMFT discuss the work-related trauma exposure that officers often experience when responding to cases of domestic violence and sexual assault, what individuals working on these crimes can do to take care of their mental health and wellbeing in order to mitigate the negative effects of this secondary trauma, and what agencies can do to support their employees who are experiencing vicarious trauma due to responding to these cases.
Vicarious Trauma Webinar Series - Part 3 - We’re All in this Together: Building Organizational Strategies to Address VT: Sergeant Chris Scallon (ret.), Norfolk Police Department (VA), Lisa Tieszen M.A., LICSW, and Katherine Manners M.Ed., LMFT discuss the work-related trauma exposure that officers often experience when responding to cases of domestic violence and sexual assault, what individuals working on these crimes can do to take care of their mental health and wellbeing in order to mitigate the negative effects of this secondary trauma, and what agencies can do to support their employees.
Agency Self-Assessment and Community Assessment: Approaches to Domestic & Sexual Violence
Police Response to Violence Against Women - VAW
Trauma Informed Sexual Assault Investigations
Law Enforcement’s Role in Victim Compensation
National Law Enforcement Leadership Initiative on Violence Against Women
Law Enforcement-Based Victim Services (LEV)
Training Program on Enhancing Rural Law Enforcement Response to Violence Against Women
Sexual Assault Kit Initiative
Vicarious Trauma Response Initiative
Anti-Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance
Law Enforcement Response to Domestic and Sexual Violence and COVID-19
On April 23, 2020, the IACP hosted a Virtual Roundtable on COVID-19 and Law Enforcement Response to Domestic and Sexual Violence. Below is...