Goals and Objectives
The goal of this Law Enforcement and Victim Service Provider (VSP) Collaboration Project is to help create a cooperative environment where law enforcement and victim service providers work hand-in-hand to ensure the holistic well-being of victims and survivors while also supporting the goals of the criminal legal process.
Materials and workshops will focus on the following objectives:
- Cross-Partner Education: Increase law enforcement and VSP knowledge about each other to help dispel myths and misunderstandings.
- Improving Communication: Facilitate better communication and coordination between law enforcement officers and VSPs to ensure that both groups are aware of the victim’s needs and rights throughout the criminal legal process.
- Increasing Accountability: Ensure that both law enforcement and VSPs are held accountable for providing the highest level of care and services to victims in a timely and respectful manner.
- Building Trust: Strengthen trust between law enforcement and victims by showing that law enforcement cares about the victim’s well-being, and by reducing victims’ fear or reluctance to engage with police due to trauma or mistrust.
- Trauma-Informed Responses: Understand trauma and vicarious trauma in order to promote the use of trauma-informed approaches in all interactions.
- Enhancing Victim Support: Ensure that victims of crime receive comprehensive services, including emotional, legal, medical, and financial support, by bridging the gap between law enforcement and victim service agencies.
- Enhancing Case Outcomes: Improve the quality of investigations and prosecutions by providing victims with the support they need to fully participate in the justice process, which can lead to more successful case resolutions.
All workshops will be eligible for 1.5 continuing education units (CEUs) or in-service hours.
The collaboration between law enforcement and victim services is crucial in providing holistic care for victims. Each partner brings unique skills and expertise, and when these resources are combined, the result is a more effective response that prioritizes both justice and healing. This toolkit offers practical strategies, tools, and insights to enhance communication, improve coordination, and foster trust between agencies, ultimately leading to better outcomes for victims.
Law Enforcement and Victim Service Provider Collaboration Toolkit
Workshop Topics
Meet your trainers
Experienced and Effective
Dottie Davis
Dottie Davis is a nationally recognized speaker who previously served 32 years with the Fort Wayne Police Department where she attained the rank of Deputy Chief and was last assigned as the Director of Training at their police academy. She implemented and wrote policy for the agency for the Crisis Intervention Team and for the Lethality Assessment Program and served as a hostage negotiator for 7 years. During her career she received two Meritorious Service Citations, named law enforcement officer of the year by the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and a Lifetime Achievement Award recipient from the Rocky Mountain Women in Law Enforcement. She is a contracted trainer for the International Association of Chiefs of Police, CIT International, Fair and Impartial Policing, the Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance Consortium, and the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Davis is a graduate of the National FBI Academy, Gavin de Becker & Associates Advanced Threat Assessment Academy, and Purdue University, and is the owner of Davis Corporate Training, Inc., a private consulting firm focusing on violence prevention, and provides expert witness testimony in both civil and criminal cases.
Darlene Bradley
Darlene Bradley is a former Special Agent that was assigned to the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, Indianapolis, IN office. While employed for the government, she conducted criminal and administrative investigations involving both Customs and Immigration violations. The investigations ranged from protection of the nation’s commerce, smuggling, money laundering, export enforcement, international terrorism to immigration issues. Bradley was also one of the founding members of IPATH (Indiana Protection Against Trafficked and Abused Humans); which is the combination of federal, state, local law enforcement and service providers to assist with all aspects of human trafficking. While employed with DHS/HSI, Ms. Bradley successfully investigated and assisted with several federal and state prosecutions of known high-profile sex traffickers within the state of Indiana. Also, part of Ms. Bradley’s duties and responsibilities she assisted with the victim’s services of domestic and foreign national individuals.
Funding Support
This project has been made possible by one or more of the following federal grants: Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice Grant Nos. 15POVC-22-GG-00743-ASSI and 15POVC-23-GG-00420-ASSI ; Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice Grant No. 15JOVW-24-GG-00940-MUMU; 15JOVW-23-GG-00573-STOP and 15JOVW-24-GG-00590-STOP; Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Grant No. 1 NVF1CE002313-01-00.
The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Justice, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or Indiana Criminal Justice Institute.
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