Officer Safety on Domestic Violence Calls DV calls are among the most dangerous. Ambushes of responding officers and Suicide By Cop are on the rise. A globally recognized psychologist specializing in domestic violence shares the stage with 911 and law enforcement.  Access this program NOW.        RATINGS: [EC] [SP] [CM]  Program Description Domestic violence calls are potentially more dangerous than any other type of call to which police and sheriffs respond. The psychology of the perpetrator is different, the emotional level is different, weapons are often involved and in an increasing number of cases the motive of the perpetrator is, or becomes, a "death by cop" scenario. This one hour web program will provide a conduit for sharing knowledge on this very important topic: officer safety in responding to domestic violence calls. This LEAPS program was inspired by LEAPS.TV's special ninety minute Domestic Violence 911 Call Handling program, which was broadcast on 14 May 2009. In that program, presenters discussed reducing risk to the responding officers as one important aspect of domestic violence call handling; the audience responded spontaneously and energetically in the online chat with a number of related issues and possible solutions. Topics that will be discussed in this program include the psychology of the abuser, the value of past activity data for the residence, ability to run background checks on parties involved in the call, the impact of Routine Caller Syndrome on how the call is handled, 911 knowledge of orders of protection and restraining orders and their ability to transmit this information to responding officers, in-vehicle retrieval of this information by responding officers en-route to the scene and the likelihood that victims will pose a risk to responding officers. This one hour LEAPS.TV program will feature the return of moderator Rebekkah Hilgraves who facilitated the Domestic Violence 911 Call Handling program, Sgt. Keith Fletcher who so ably represented the police role in domestic violence calls in the first program, Captain Tim Guerrette from the Collier County (FL) Sheriff's Department who is an expert and instructor on domestic violence call response, and Patricia L. Mensler, Training Supervisor for Dutchess County Emergency Response who was a real asset and thought leader from the audience of the initial domestic violence program. Our team of law enforcement and public safety experts will be joined by Dr. Amy Holtzworth-Munroe, a Professor of Psychology and Clinical Psychology specializing in psychology of domestic violence perpetrators who will provide insights into the mind of the abuser. Like other LEAPS.TV programs this one is as likely to confirm what you already know and are already doing as it is likely to cause you to rethink your best practices and, like other LEAPS.TV programs, there will be plenty of time for interaction and discussion, both amongst participants and with the moderator and presenters. [Recommend this LEAPS.TV program to a colleague.] Guest Bios Amy Holtzworth-Munroe, PhD, Professor of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences Indiana University Bloomington Dr. Amy Holtzworth-Munroe, PhD is a Professor of Psychology and Adjunct Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry in the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology and Adjunct Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at Indiana University in Bloomington. Dr. Holtzworth-Munroe is also Adjunct Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at Indiana University in Indianapolis. Her areas of professional interest and research include domestic abuse, violence, marriage and interpersonal relationships with a current emphasis on research on men who are violent within the context of the domestic relationship. Dr. Holtzworth-Munroe is the author or co-author of numerous papers and academic research studies in domestic violence and related areas. Dr. Holtzworth-Munroe earned her B.A. from Brown University in 1981, her M.S. from University of Washington in 1984 and her Ph.D. from University of Washignton, 1988. Patricia L. Mensler, Training Supervisor Dutchess County Emergency Response Patricia L. Mensler is the Training Supervisor for Dutchess County (NY) Emergency Response. Ms Mensler was a New York State Emergency Medical Technician in New York City Emergency Medical Services from 1980 to 1982, dispatcher with the Hollywood (FL) Police Department from 1982 to 1986. She joined the Town of Poughkeepsie (NY) Police Department as a Police Assistant Dispatcher in 1991, a job she kept until 1999. She joined the Dutchess County (NY) Department of Emergency Response in 1998 as a Public Safety Dispatcher, and currently holds the position of Training Supervisor. She is a Regional Association of Public Safety Communications Officials International (APCO) Instructor and she develops and instructs monthly training for all Public Safety Telecommunicators within her office. Ms. Mensler earned a State of Florida Paramedic Certification from Broward Community College in 1986. Certifications from APCO include Public Safety Telecommunicator 1, Public Safety Telecommunicator Instructor, Certified Training Officer, Certified Training Officer Instructor, Communications Center Supervisor, Fire Service Communications, and Active Shooter Incident for Public Safety Communications. She holds Advanced Emergency Medical Dispatch, Police Dispatch, ProQA, and Emergency Medical Dispatch certifications with National Academy of Emergency Dispatch (NAED) and: Law Enforcement Dispatch, Advanced Law Enforcement Dispatch, Domestic Violence Intervention. Homeland Security for Telecommunicators, Non-Emergency Call Handling, Hostage Negotiations, Suicide Intervention, Stress Identification and Management and Active Shooting Response certifications with Power Phone. Additionally, she is certified with the New York State Fire Academy on:Public Safety Dispatcher Course and Public Safety Dispatcher Course Instructor. MS. Mensler also has 60 credits toward an AAS Degree with 6 credits to go for a Paralegal at Degree Dutchess Community College. Keith Fletcher, Sergeant Alcoa (TN) PD Keith Fletcher is a patrol Sergeant with the Alcoa (TN) Police Department. Sergeant Fletcher is an 18 year veteran of law enforcement with over 200 hours of domestic violence training and is, himself, a survivor of domestic violence. In addition to patrol responsibilities Sergeant Fletcher is certified as a domestic violence instructor by Tennessee Peace Officers Standards & Training (POST) and periodically conducts training on domestic violence response for law enforcement and yearly training for fire and rescue personnel. Sergeant Fletcher has been a member of the Haven House Board of Directors for 4 years and the Blount County Task Force Against Domestic Violence for 8 years. Moderator Bio Rebekkah Hilgraves, President SheTech and Company Rebekkah Hilgraves started her professional career as a technical trainer for Cheetah Software Systems in Los Angeles and quickly moved into technical support and documentation. From there she worked with the marketing team for software testing, supported and documented UNIX-Windows interoperability and was project manager for a web-based collaborative development environment. Rebekkah formed SheTech and Company in 1996 and has been consulting in web and traditional marketing as well as acting in a variety of roles since the founding of SheTech, including Managing Editor of NetPerformance.com, an online telecommunications industry technical magazine. Her unique combination of artistic training, including a full, rich parallel career as an opera singer and strong technical background gives Ms. Hilgraves a unique and powerful set of skills which she brings to bear on behalf of her clients. Rebekkah has moderated other LEAPS.TV programs including the viewer acclaimed program Domestic Violence 911 Call Handing. Advisors   > Amy Canfield, Program Advisor         Program Manager, Haven House   > Scott C. Harmon, Program Advisor         Lieutenant, NAS JRB DoD Police   > Robert Morris, Program Advisor         Training & Education Manager, The International Justice and Public Safety Network Sponsored by This program is being made available at no charge to the law enforcement and public safety community thanks to the generous support of The Law Enforcement And Public Safety Channel.