For the past five years, Rose Brooks Center has led an effort to address domestic violence crime in Kansas City – a first of its kind. The Blueprint for Safety brought together entities including Rose Brooks Center, 9-1-1, the Kansas City Police Department, Probation and Parole, and others to create new policies and practices, enhancing Kansas City’s response to domestic violence crime. The end result was a single document with a chapter for each agency within the criminal legal system.
Since then, Rose Brooks’ Blueprint Team, consisting of Annie Struby, the Blueprint for Safety Coordinator, and Cayla Waller, the Lethality Assessment Manager, have been busy implementing Blueprint for Safety principles. Pictured to the right, Annie presents a training on domestic violence and the Blueprint policies to new 9-1-1 operators. Below, Annie and Cayla partner with KCPD to provide domestic violence and Blueprint policies training to new officers at the Police Academy.
Patrol officer and academy instructor, Jeremy Sheer, describes the training’s impact. “The ability to coordinate with resource partners has enhanced the police department’s ability to not only assist victims with survivors, but to ensure the immediate and future safety of victims is at the forefront on the minds of responding officers as they handle domestic violence incidents.”
To date, more than 74 hours of training have been completed across the entire criminal legal system, from 9-1-1 to post conviction. Rose Brooks Center’s continued implementation of the Blueprint for Safety will distinguish Kansas City as a leader and innovator in domestic violence response.
Additional training has included the following:
- In February, the Blueprint Coordinator and Advocate met with Judge Wachal of KC’s Municipal DV Court to discuss the Blueprint implementation in that setting.
- On March 1st, the Blueprint team members from KCPD Communications arranged for the Coordinator and Advocate to present a training on domestic violence and the Blueprint principles to new 911 call takers.
- In March and May, the Coordinator and Advocate co-presented the basic DV training for Missouri Probation and Parole’s new officers. The training was created through a Blueprint-Probation and Parole collaboration and includes Blueprint best practices.
- In June, the Advocate completed a training with Victim Witness Assistants at the Municipal Court. This covered the basic nature and dynamics of domestic violence as well as Blueprint principles.
The Equity Team continues to meet regularly to examine language access in our local criminal legal system as it relates to victims of domestic violence. The team consists of representation from KCPD, KCMO Municipal Prosecutor’s Office, Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, Jackson County Detention Center, and Rose Brooks Center. Staff from Della Lamb, JVS, and Mattie Rhodes lend their expertise to the group as key members as well. The team continues to participate in activities and review documents that guide people who interact with victims in our criminal legal system.