Baker One Training Changes Lawrence Officer’s View
The Domestic Violence Network coordinated a series of Baker One and Domestic Violence training’s for Lawrence Police Department. Linda Major, MCPO, and Debbie Norris, IMPD, conducted four training’s in the month of October. The training impacted one LPD Officer tremendously. This is what he has to say:
Being in Public Safety for several years made it more apparent to me how I had dropped the ball on this particular DV run. As I sat in the training classroom I became increasingly uncomfortable with my lack of action on the DV run I had just the past evening. It was like they were writing the class outline from my run. As if the instructors were on the run with me and had seen and heard all the information I was getting from the victim and family members. But due to my compliancy and being toward the end of the shift, my only effort to minimize my guilt was to sit dark down the street for the last hour of the shift in hopes the perpetrator would return to meet arrest.
It was difficult to sit in the classroom the next morning as I listened, whereas I wanted to leave immediately and return to victim to do what I should have done in the first place. The real clincher for me was the closing remarks the instructor made. “Remember, this is not just about domestic violence; it’s really about HOMICIDE PREVENTION´. Ok, the whole time I was preparing to return to the victim finish a real follow up report, I was praying that I would not be met with news that a homicide had occurred and how I would live with the fact that I dropped the ball. I was ashamed of my original lack of action but thankful to have the chance to recover from it. I still ponder from time to time of the events in the past 30 years that I may have done the same.
I was also glad to hear that there was a component of the Baker One project to intervene and try to change the aggressor’s behavior.
It should be noted that I found out later that when I returned to make contact with the victim she had in fact been terrorized and assaulted once again. I am forever changed in the way I proceed on DV runs as a police officer. If nothing more; I will do a better job in the future to stand up for the victims of DV, both past, present and future.
Officer Matthew L. Hickey