Kansas City police announce partnerships and changes to stop domestic violence
Kansas City police announced Monday that they have partnered with the Rose Brooks domestic violence shelter, local courts, prosecutors and detention centers to help stop domestic violence.
The interagency response, known as Kansas City Blueprint for Safety, has adopted national, research-based best practices in handling the crime, police officials said.
In a message posted to Twitter on Monday, Kansas City police said they will add more questions to the screenings they give to domestic violence victims to determine those who are the most risk of death.
The department also said it would be updating its policies to better identify the primary aggressor in domestic violence situations as well as provide more training to help officers document abuse cases for successful prosecution.
The changes are part of a three-year effort led by the Rose Brooks Center, with support from Kansas City and the Office of Violence Against Women, to address domestic violence in Kansas City.
The domestic violence shelter met monthly with officials from the Kansas City Police Department, municipal court, probation and parole office and the Jackson County jail to review and developed new policies for domestic violence crimes.
The result of the effort was a document with a chapter for each agency within the criminal justice system to be used to ensure victims are kept safe and offenders are held accountable, according to a release from the Rose Brooks Center.
This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 12:54 PM.
