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Schedule:
Sunday, January 20, 2019
Continental Parlors 1-3, Ballroom Level (Hilton San Francisco)
* noted as presenting author
Background and Purpose:
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a national initiative seeks to develop strategies to reduce gun crime. Most PSN efforts generally targeted gang-related gun crimes but more recently effort have been initiated to address the increased risk of homicide for domestic violence victims whose offenders have access to firearms (Campbell, Glass, Sharps, Laughon, & Bloom, 2007).
This research reports on Project ADVANCE (Addressing Domestic Violence to Avert New Criminal Efforts), a Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative in a mid-sized city in the Intermountain West. This project seeks to understand the baseline knowledge of firearms and DV and assess the impact of a targeted training on firearm restrictions among law enforcement officers, victim advocates, and DV offender treatment providers.
Methods:
The researchers conducted a series trainings with law enforcement officers, victim advocates, and treatment providers. Pre- and post- surveys were administered to measure knowledge of domestic violence statutes, confidence in asking about firearms with victims and offenders, and knowledge of how to report a concern about firearm possession. Surveys were conducted with 123 law enforcement officers, 62 victim advocates, and 33 domestic violence treatment providers.
Results:
Three-quarters (74%) of law enforcement officers reported receiving previous training on domestic violence and firearms statutes and 34% and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) initiatives. The vast majority (71%) reported never being involved with a firearm-related PSN case. Following the training, officers showed significant improvements on all six of the knowledge items and officers who did not have prior PSN training showed greater improvement from pre- to post-test relative to those who reported participating in previous PSN training.
Only 40% of victim advocates reported receiving previous training on domestic violence and firearms statutes and only 10% had been previously trained on PSN. Half of advocates (52%) reported that they inquire about the offender’s access to firearms when dealing with a DV victim; however, 18% indicated never or only rarely asking about such access. Following the training, advocates showed significant improvements on two of the six knowledge items.
Only 15% of domestic violence treatment providers reported receiving previous training on domestic violence and firearms statutes and even fewer had received training on PSN (3%). Based on survey results, it does not appear that DV treatment providers are reliable means for communicating information to offenders regarding federal firearms restrictions. In fact, almost three-fourths of providers reported that they rarely (21%) or infrequently (49%) discuss firearms-related issues with clients.
Conclusions and Implications:
The results of this study show that there is relatively low baseline knowledge about firearms and domestic violence among law enforcement and DV professionals. Our findings do show that targeted training about firearms can increase knowledge and potentially improve victim safety. Based on these findings the authors suggest that all law enforcement, victim advocates, and direct service providers be required to complete training on risk of firearm fatality and firearm restriction statutes. Implications for social work education and policy are discussed.
Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a national initiative seeks to develop strategies to reduce gun crime. Most PSN efforts generally targeted gang-related gun crimes but more recently effort have been initiated to address the increased risk of homicide for domestic violence victims whose offenders have access to firearms (Campbell, Glass, Sharps, Laughon, & Bloom, 2007).
This research reports on Project ADVANCE (Addressing Domestic Violence to Avert New Criminal Efforts), a Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative in a mid-sized city in the Intermountain West. This project seeks to understand the baseline knowledge of firearms and DV and assess the impact of a targeted training on firearm restrictions among law enforcement officers, victim advocates, and DV offender treatment providers.
Methods:
The researchers conducted a series trainings with law enforcement officers, victim advocates, and treatment providers. Pre- and post- surveys were administered to measure knowledge of domestic violence statutes, confidence in asking about firearms with victims and offenders, and knowledge of how to report a concern about firearm possession. Surveys were conducted with 123 law enforcement officers, 62 victim advocates, and 33 domestic violence treatment providers.
Results:
Three-quarters (74%) of law enforcement officers reported receiving previous training on domestic violence and firearms statutes and 34% and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN) initiatives. The vast majority (71%) reported never being involved with a firearm-related PSN case. Following the training, officers showed significant improvements on all six of the knowledge items and officers who did not have prior PSN training showed greater improvement from pre- to post-test relative to those who reported participating in previous PSN training.
Only 40% of victim advocates reported receiving previous training on domestic violence and firearms statutes and only 10% had been previously trained on PSN. Half of advocates (52%) reported that they inquire about the offender’s access to firearms when dealing with a DV victim; however, 18% indicated never or only rarely asking about such access. Following the training, advocates showed significant improvements on two of the six knowledge items.
Only 15% of domestic violence treatment providers reported receiving previous training on domestic violence and firearms statutes and even fewer had received training on PSN (3%). Based on survey results, it does not appear that DV treatment providers are reliable means for communicating information to offenders regarding federal firearms restrictions. In fact, almost three-fourths of providers reported that they rarely (21%) or infrequently (49%) discuss firearms-related issues with clients.
Conclusions and Implications:
The results of this study show that there is relatively low baseline knowledge about firearms and domestic violence among law enforcement and DV professionals. Our findings do show that targeted training about firearms can increase knowledge and potentially improve victim safety. Based on these findings the authors suggest that all law enforcement, victim advocates, and direct service providers be required to complete training on risk of firearm fatality and firearm restriction statutes. Implications for social work education and policy are discussed.