In 2022, the United States Department of Justice released updated guidance for law enforcement on strategies to improve responses to the crimes of domestic violence and sexual assault (DVSA). This guidance outlines eight fundamental principles that, when integrated into law enforcement policies, training, and practices, can help improve justice for victims and ensure offenders are held accountable.  

Following the release of the updated guidance, the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) repeatedly heard from the field that the guidance content is strong, but it is more theoretical than practical to implement and awareness of the guidance is fairly limited. In response, PERF and the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) partnered to convene a meeting of subject matter experts to discuss strategies for practical application of the principles outlined in the guidance. The Roadmap is an e-toolkit that documents those strategies and is designed to help agencies integrate the guiding principles into their responses and investigations. By implementing these practices, agencies can enhance their support for victims and conduct more effective investigations. This site is a resource directory built on the foundation of these eight principles. Law enforcement agencies (LEAs) are able to click on relevant topics based on their needs to determine which stage of development they are in and access relevant resources based on where they are. Click on each principle below to learn more and access resources related to that topic: 

  1. Recognize and challenge assumptions and stereotypes about victims.  

  1. Treat all victims with respect.  

  1. Ensure that policies, training, supervision, and resource allocation support thorough and effective investigations.  

  1. Appropriately classify reports of sexual assault and domestic violence. 

  1. Refer victims to appropriate services.  

  1. Properly identify the predominant aggressor in domestic violence incidents to prevent and investigate officer-involved sexual assault and domestic violence to hold personnel who commit these offenses accountable. 

  1. Implement policies to prevent officer-perpetrated sexual assault and domestic violence and hold officers who commit these offenses accountable.  

  1. Maintain, review, and act on data regarding sexual assault and domestic violence.

We hope that this Roadmap will assist law enforcement agencies in evaluating their current stage of development by identifying three stages:  

Lagging Behind, when an agency does not have a formal policy or the practices are outdated and/or harmful; 

Making Progress, when an agency uses practices that are considered the minimum standard; and  

Leading the Way, when an agency has researched promising practices and implements best practices tailored to the needs of victims. 

Click here for a glossary of related terms. 

 

This project was supported by Grant No. 15JOVW-22-GK-04008-MUMU, awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed on this page are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Justice.