Redwood City, CA
1-800-348-8911

Domestic and Family Violence
for Dispatch Professionals

Class Description:

A law enforcement dispatcher plays a vital and key role in the apprehension and prosecution of a domestic violence suspect. A woman is physically abused by her husband every 9 seconds in the United States. A call taker and dispatcher must know the variety of ways that calls of family and domestic violence may be referred to a dispatch center. 35% of emergency-room visits by women are for symptoms that may be the result of spousal abuse; as few as 5% of these victims are ever so categorized.

It takes a huge amount of courage for a victim to call 9-1-1. We must be prepared to gather the right information and facilitate the appropriate response! 92% of women who were physically abused by their partners did not discuss these incidents with their physicians; 57% did not discuss the incidents with anyone.

Given the statistics, the 9-1-1 profession must be prepared for domestic and family violence calls, to prioritize them correctly and to coordinate a safe response. Women are more often victims of domestic violence than victims of burglary, muggings, or other physical crime combined.  In fact, some researches estimate that one of every two women will be battered at some time in their life.

Topics include:

• Information gathering during the initial call for service
• What to expect from a traumatized caller
• How to combine compassion and empathy to get the best information
• The Dispatchers role in responder safety during critical calls
• How to defuse the suspect while responders are in route to a call
• Using the PSTC Crisis Communications Toolbox
• Role Plays and Scenarios of reality based family emergency calls
• Lessons Learned and case studies to enforce the dispatchers role

9-1-1 public safety dispatchers must have the necessary tools to keep distraught victims on the line until responders can arrive. Learn how to calm abusive and assaultive subjects and gain necessary intelligence on the telephone that can help responding officers and keep the situation safe?  We will share the valuable questions that can be asked on the telephone that can lead to better arrests and to more successful prosecutions?

Target Audience: Any Public Safety Dispatcher, Training Dispatcher or Lead Dispatcher will benefit from this course. We also tailor this class to meet your specific agency needs or any emergency services group. We have vast experience with police, fire, EMS, military groups and private public safety groups.

Class length: 7-8 Hours

Certification: California POST Plan IV. Call for details regarding other certifications.

Evaluations:

There wee calls that I was at a loss with due to lack of experience. This class gave me great experience. Stephanie, Morgan Hill PD (10/2010)

Wow! Informative, educational and entertaining -- J. Schertz PD

The instructor was very knowledgeable and was very entertaining. I loved his "down to earth" training. I felt a clear connection between the instructor and dispatchers -- Josephine, Kirby PD

Interactions and discussions between everyone were the best aspect. The tapes of actual calls was nice and directly related to each section. Helps remind us how to handle these types of calls i.e., questions, tone of voice, etc. -- Christina, Stanislaus County

This class benefits all dispatchers. It makes you think about calls you have taken in the past and how you can improve the way you handle the domestic violence calls -- Pamela, Inglewood PD

Great class. Covers all types of domestic violence and the signs to look for, questions to ask, and info that could be helpful in court or during the investigation -- Diane, Inglewood PD

Very interesting and informative -- Frances, Comal County SO

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