KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 News is giving you an in-depth look at the training police officers go through at the Kansas City Regional Police Academy.
The 174th entrant officer class has been learning how to handle disturbance and domestic violence calls.
Officers were put to the test Tuesday while doing real-life simulations of scenarios they'll likely encounter on the job.
KCPD Capt. Brian Bartch, training unit commander, said this training is crucial for officers considering the amount of domestic violence calls they will do while in the field.
During training, entrant officers Michael Leger and Mark Rivera walked into a scene where someone called 911 for domestic violence.
Their classmates watched as they handled the call, remembering to secure the scene, separate the people involved and begin piecing together what happened.
Every question they ask at the scene is crucial to how prosecutors could handle the case later. They must be thorough in finding how exactly what happened.
"The prosecutor is not the one responding to these calls, we are, so we have to get all the info and paint a picture for him so in a court room he can tell that to a possible jury and they can see that picture too," Leger said.
During a time when emotions are likely running high, officers must be diligent in asking the right questions to learn what happened while also showing empathy to victims.
"If an officer goes in very callous and matter-of-fact, chances are that victim is not going to be very forthcoming, they are not in a good position, they are afraid, they are scared of retribution potentially from the other party, so empathy is important," Bartch said.
During domestic violence training, the academy brings in experts from the Rose Brooks Center who work directly with victims.
On any domestic violence call, officers ask a series of research-based questions and will connect victims directly with services if they believe they are at risk of serious injury or death.
"It is imperative that we work as a team, we don't expect officers to be social workers just like they don't expect us to be law-enforcement, and so if we want to end the cycle of violence in our community we have to work together," said Cayla Waller, lethality assessment manager for Rose Brooks.
During the training exercise, instructors watch closely and provide feedback after.
Entrant officer Mark Rivera said he appreciates the class-wide discussion after, which gives him new things to work on to reach his goal to serve the public.
"Most of us join the police force just to protect and serve people and we just want to help people at the end of the day," Rivera said.
