NCJ Number
141861
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 41 Issue: 3 Dated: (March 1993) Pages: 94-98
Date Published
1993
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The Training Project on Family Violence (TPFV) was established in Indiana after the murder of a battered wife by her former husband and has radically changed attitudes about domestic assault in many police agencies in the State.
Abstract
The murder prompted legislation requiring that each police officer receive training regarding the appropriate police response to domestic assault, based on the view that domestic assault is a crime rather than a family manner. State grants funded the training program, which was developed by Dr. David Ford, a sociologist at Indiana University. TPFV structured the curriculum so that it would make the benefits of arrest apparent, while not insisting on arrest, or would at least ensure that the response addressed the victim's need for protection. After the curriculum received extensive review by criminal justice and social service personnel, it was offered at nine sites around the State in early 1992. To overcome police resistance to in- service training, the seminars included three police officers as assistant trainers. The program was offered free of charge and focused on the training of trainers who would then return to their agencies and conduct 8-hour training sessions for police officers. The trainers received free training packages that included 125 slides, 2 videotapes, a packet of certification and evaluation materials, and a 52-page booklet for each police officer. In just over a year, TPFV has trained more than 300 officers at its nine seminar sites and has received overwhelming support. TPFV aims to expand trainees to include judges and prosecutors by offering Continuing Legal Education credits.