B.R.A.V.E.™ for Police & Law Enforcement

Police Training in Intimate Partner Violence & Coercive Control

Police officers are often encountering only one moment within a much larger pattern.

Already using an IPV screening or risk-assessment process?
B.R.A.V.E. focuses on the interaction around that process—helping professionals consider what they notice, ask, document, validate, and do next.

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A disturbance call, repeated unwanted contact, a separation dispute, a frightened partner, an angry complainant, conflicting accounts, or an individual who appears unusually calm may each represent only one part of an ongoing pattern of intimate partner violence or coercive control.

B.R.A.V.E.™ for Police is applied professional training designed to help officers examine the interaction surrounding an IPV-related encounter while working within their existing investigative, risk-assessment, documentation, and organizational procedures.

B.R.A.V.E. is not intended to replace existing police screening tools, investigative protocols, or risk-assessment processes. The framework focuses on the human interaction occurring within and around those systems: what an officer notices, asks, documents, considers, and communicates.

The B.R.A.V.E. Framework

Build Safety

Establish immediate safety while recognizing that risk, disclosure, and survivor decision-making may change over time.

Recognize Control

Look beyond isolated incidents to behaviours that may indicate intimidation, monitoring, retaliation, financial restriction, stalking, threats, isolation, or other patterns of coercive control.

Anchor Stability

Use calm, structured interaction when individuals may be frightened, dysregulated, confused, angry, emotionally flat, or overwhelmed.

Validate Experience

Respond without relying on stereotypes about how a “credible” victim should appear or behave.

Empower Agency

Provide clear information about available options, referrals, safety resources, and next steps while respecting professional scope and investigative responsibilities.

Training Topics May Include

Incident versus pattern: examining behaviour across time rather than viewing every event in isolation
Coercive-control dynamics: intimidation, surveillance, isolation, financial abuse, threats, retaliation and post-separation abuse
DARVO and image management: understanding how competing narratives may arise during police contact
Victim presentation and demeanour: fear, anger, calmness, minimization, confusion, flat affect and defensive behaviour
Defensive or retaliatory violence: considering context when both parties report aggression
Post-separation risk: stalking, repeated communication, litigation-related abuse, technological monitoring and escalation
Documentation: behavioural language, direct quotations, chronology and documenting patterns without overstating conclusions
Frontline questions: practical questions that may help clarify context during limited-contact encounters
Case-based application: applying concepts to realistic police and frontline scenarios
Referral pathways: connecting individuals with Victim Services, healthcare, shelters, legal supports and community resources

Designed Around Real Police Encounters

Training can be adapted to situations including:

Domestic disturbance calls
Repeated police attendance
Post-separation complaints
Harassment and stalking reports
Conflicting accounts between partners
Victims reluctant to disclose
Individuals who minimize risk
Defensive violence presentations
Technology-facilitated abuse
Documentation of ongoing behavioural patterns

Documentation as a Frontline Tool

Documentation may become important long after a single police interaction has ended.

B.R.A.V.E. police training can include applied discussion of:

Objective behavioural documentation
Direct client statements
Chronology
Repeated conduct
Threats
Post-separation behaviour
Technology-facilitated abuse
Safety concerns
Referrals and follow-up

Training is customized to the participating police service’s existing reporting requirements, investigative procedures, policies, and professional responsibilities.

Case-Based Learning

B.R.A.V.E. training uses case analysis to examine how intimate partner violence and coercive control may appear during real-world frontline encounters.

Participants are invited to consider:

What information is visible immediately?
What information may be missing?
What assumptions might influence the interaction?
What questions could provide additional context?
What should be documented?
What services or referrals may be appropriate?
How might the same situation appear differently when viewed as a pattern rather than a single event?

Training Formats

Police Briefing / Professional Development Session

60–90 minutes

Focused education for patrol, investigative, supervisory, or multidisciplinary teams.

B.R.A.V.E.™ Applied Police Workshop

Half-day / approximately 4 hours

Interactive training incorporating coercive-control dynamics, documentation, case analysis, victim presentation, practical questions, and applied scenarios.

Customized Organizational Training

Training can be developed for: patrol officers • investigators • supervisors • community response teams • victim-support personnel • domestic violence units • multidisciplinary teams

Content can be adapted following consultation with the police service so that B.R.A.V.E. complements—not duplicates—the organization’s existing procedures.

Bring B.R.A.V.E. Training to Your Police Service

Professional training can be customized according to the needs of your service, existing IPV procedures, operational realities, documentation practices, and learning priorities.