Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office Holds Domestic Violence Seminar Alongside Safe Passage, Inc.

Seminar was held in conjunction with National Domestic Violence Month

Jefferson County, Indiana (October 28, 2024) – The Jefferson County Prosecutor’s Office held a training seminar this month to enhance the community’s response to domestic violence.

The training, conducted alongside Safe Passage, Inc., aimed to increase education on the issue during National Domestic Violence Awareness Month this October. The day-long seminar featured four speakers and focused on identifying and applying best practices in handling instances of domestic violence.

“Jefferson County has seen a spike in domestic battery cases in recent years,” said Jefferson County Prosecutor David Sutter. “Domestic battery cases jumped to 124 in 2023 and are expected to increase to 145 in 2024. Given these statistics, additional training on domestic violence cases was crucial to combating the issue.”

Speakers for the event included Prosecutor Sutter, Safe Passage, Inc. Director of Client Services Kim Bohman, nationally recognized speaker and owner of Davis Corporate Training, Inc., Dottie Davis, and Caryn Burton of the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The training covered best practices for law enforcement response to domestic violence calls, the correlation between domestic violence and sexual assault, lethality assessments in screening domestic violence victims, strangulation, civil liability for law enforcement personnel in domestic violence cases, and updates on Indiana laws pertaining to domestic violence, including the Mandate to Prevent Further Violence.

“This event accomplished our goal of enhancing the community’s response to domestic violence,” said Sutter. “We would like to thank our speakers, as well as Safe Passage, Inc., for helping us put the event together. Thanks also to Ivy Tech Community College for hosting, John and Lori Heitz, owners of the Red Pepper and Red Roaster, for catering, Joey Ernst of Free Wheel Studios for recording the training for future use, and Bailey Wolf, the Victim Assistance Coordinator in our office, for all the work she put into planning.”

The training was attended by law enforcement officers from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, the City of Madison Police Department and the Switzerland County Sheriff's Office. Additional attendees included caseworkers and supervisors from the Department of Child Services (DCS), advocates from Court Appointed Special Advocates of Jefferson County (CASA), probation officers and field officers with Jefferson County Court Services, victim advocates from Safe Passage, Inc., and a nurse from Norton King's Daughters' Health (NKDH).