The Promise Initiative: Promoting a trauma‐informed police response to sexual assault in a mid‐size Southern community

Abstract

Aims A mixed‐methods study details a multidisciplinary team's efforts to assess and transform police response to sexual assault in a mid‐size community. Method A police department‐wide survey (n = 331) determined baseline levels of officer exposure to trauma‐informed training, rape myth acceptance, and awareness of community and nationwide sexual assault movements to understand officer attitudes towards factors influencing sexual assault investigations. These data, in conjunction with SAMHSA's (2012) trauma‐informed assumptions, were leveraged to develop and adopt trauma‐informed policies that would enhance the police department's response to sexual assault. Results At baseline, few officers reported receiving trauma‐informed interviewing training (21.8%) or having knowledge of local SAK, #MeToo, or #TimesUp movements (10.0%, 7.2%, 3.9%, respectively). Chi‐square analyses suggested officer knowledge of community SAK movement, personal investment in learning about sexual assault, and understanding of trauma were higher in officers with versus without training; of concern, officers with more sexual assaults on their caseload were more likely to endorse rape myths. Training understanding was related to lower rape myth acceptance. Conclusions Policy changes, including adding trauma‐informed training to the Police Academy, were implemented by the MDT to promote a system‐wide trauma‐informed approach to sexual assault and ensure community safety.

A concept analysis of trauma‐informed care

“…The phenomenon of TIC is well‐integrated in mental health, psychology, psychiatry, and social work fields 9–15 . Currently, criminal justice, primary and secondary education, and health and social sciences include TIC in professional training 16–20 . As of this writing, there is no universally accepted operational definition of TIC 19 .…”

Do Impulsivity and Education Moderate the Effectiveness of Police Sexual Assault Investigations Training? Findings From a Solomon Four-Group Quasi-Experiment

“…Finally, a range of survivors’ emotional reactions when reporting to police have been documented, including emotionally expressive (e.g., visibly upset) and emotionally controlled (e.g., flat affect) responses (Bollingmo et al, 2008; Jordan, 2004). Taken together, these findings indicate a need to train officers about victim-centered investigative techniques that can mitigate secondary trauma, enhance victim engagement, and reduce case attrition (Lathan et al, 2019).…”

“…To improve the police response to sexual assault, reformers have called for specialized training for officers who are likely to respond to and investigate crimes of sexual violence (IACP, n. d., Lathan et al, 2019). Although this call for training began during the rape reform movements of the 1970s (Field, 1978), few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of sexual assault training, and fewer have employed quasi-experimental or experimental designs (see Sleath & Bull, 2017).…”

Organizational Solutions to the Moral Risks of Policing

“…Trauma informed philosophies have been incorporated into many community service and treatment settings and have begun to be discussed in relation to policing, especially related to training officers to be more compassionate when interacting with victims of sexual assault [ 37 , 38 ] and with school children [ 39 ]. The approach trains officers to think (and ask) “what happened to you?” rather than thinking (or asking) “what’s wrong with you?” Trauma-informed policing is a method to prolong officers’ service-mindedness and sustain their compassion.…”

“…A program, organization, or system that is trauma-informed realizes the widespread impact of trauma and understands potential paths for recovery; recognizes the signs and symptoms of trauma in clients, families, staff, and others involved with the system; and responds by fully integrating knowledge about trauma into policies, procedures, and practices, and seeks to actively resist re-traumatization. (p. 9) Trauma informed philosophies have been incorporated into many community service and treatment settings and have begun to be discussed in relation to policing, especially related to training officers to be more compassionate when interacting with victims of sexual assault [37,38] and with school children [39]. The approach trains officers to think (and ask) "what happened to you?"…”