HAVEN and the Royal Oak Police Department (ROPD) are collaborating efforts to end domestic and sexual violence by strengthening policies and training for police, prosecutors, and the judiciary in recognizing, investigating, and prosecuting incidents of domestic violence and sexual assault.

The training was made possible by grant funding provided by the 3P Campaign. The 3P Campaign, which stands for prevent, protect, prosecute, is a local project funded by Federal dollars through a joint grant between HAVEN and the ROPD. The goals of the campaign are to create a coordinated community response to domestic violence, and to generate a safe and empowering network of services for victims, promoting a pro-arrest policy.

The officer training focused on providing officers with an overview of domestic violence including myths and power and control tactics, officer safety and how to help a victim of domestic violence. Officers also had the opportunity to hear from a domestic violence survivor and to experience the violence from a personal perspective.

One focus of the training was to improve collaboration between the ROPD and HAVEN’s First Response team with regard to individual domestic violence calls.  As part of the training, officers were encouraged to use this free-of-charge HAVEN resource to assist them in providing additional resources and support to victims of domestic violence.  As a result, HAVEN has already seen a noted increase in the number of calls from the Royal Oak area, which means more victims are getting help sooner.