OSL trains Native American Law Enforcement Officers in Phoenix

The Office of State and Local Training (OSL) delivered the Domestic Violence in Indian Country Training Program in Phoenix, AZ this week. The training was hosted by and at the Arizona Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) and topics included:

• Dynamics of Domestic Violence
• Officer and Victim Safety 
• Legal Issues
• Evidence Based Prosecution
• Strangulation, Stalking, and Sexual Assault
• Interviewing
  

The Office of State and Local Training recognizes, and through sustained collaboration with the Office of Violence Against Women (OVW), addresses the staggering statistics relative to violence against Native American women in the United States.

The rate of violent crime victimization among American Indian females (86 per 1, 000) is reported to be 2.5 times the rate for all females. The victimization rate among American Indian females is reported as higher than that found among Black females (46 per 1,000 ages 12 or older) as approximately 2.5 times higher than among Caucasian females (34) and 5 times that of Asian females (17). [USDOJ, A BJS Statistical Profile 1992-2002, American Indians and Crime]

Through a partnership and funding provided by the OVW, the Domestic Violence Indian Country Training Program (DVICTP) is presented throughout the United States. The DVICTP three-day program provides participants with a fundamental understanding of domestic violence in Indian Country and the basic skills necessary to promote victim safety, effective responses and batterer accountability. This tuition-free program is designed specifically for tribal, federal, state, local and campus law enforcement, or criminal justice personnel and domestic violence professionals working in and or adjacent to tribal jurisdictions.

The DVICTP is enriched by Native culture woven throughout the curriculum and promulgates the tenets that we are all relatives and that women are sacred.