Guest speaker teaches community valuable lessons

THOMPSON FALLS – The Sanders County Coalition for Families partnered with the Sanders County Sheriff’s Office for a community training seminar last week in Thompson Falls.

The training, which occurred over the course of two days, featuring all day sessions from 8 a.m. through 4 p.m. on both Wednesday, May 27 and Thursday, May 28 took place at the New Life Fellowship Church on Airport Road, east of downtown Thompson Falls.

Led by Marcus Bruning, the training, Advanced Issues in Domestic Crisis Intervention, focused on how law enforcement officials and community outreach group like SCCFF can work together to assist victims of domestic violence and abuse.

The seminar also emphasized investigations into crimes of domestic violence, go over the best practices law enforcement officers can implement during these investigations.

Bruning is a law enforcement officer who worked on developing a model policy,  now implemented by 3,500 law enforcement agencies nationwide, for rural agency response to domestic violence, while he was working as a part of the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota.

With representatives from the SCSO and the county’s town police departments in attendance, Bruning emphasized the importance of victim engagement and for law enforcement officials to be cognizant of the messages, both verbal and non-verbal they are sending to the victim during investigations.

“You have to be thinking about what the victims need,” Bruning said.

During his presentation on day one of the seminar, Bruning emphasized the importance of law enforcement officers working with advocacy groups, such as SCCFF.

He stated both entities benefit when they work as partners to fight instances of domestic abuse.

“A lot of people have a limited knowledge of the justice system. Advocacy helps them out, helps them understand their constitutional rights and the legal system,” Bruning said.

According to Bruning, the two-day course covers a variety of topics relating to combating domestic violence in a rural setting.

He stated the seminar builds on itself and is all about helping victims out.

“We are trying to develop deeper understanding. How can we provide support to the victim,” Bruning said.

The conference’s keynote speaker reiterated the importance of bringing the legal system into play to aide those hurt by domestic abuse.

“We place an emphasis on holding an offender accountable to the criminal justice system,” Bruning said.

Several members of SCCFF were also on hand for the two-day seminar in Thompson Falls.

SCCFF Executive Director Gayle Seratt noted training seminars held in Sanders County, such as the one led by Bruning, are a great way to transfer a large quantity of quality information to a large group.

“It helps to disperse as much information as you can to the greatest number of people,” Seratt said.   

A federal grant, specifically, a rural victim assistance grant from the Office of Violence Against Women, a part of the DOJ, was instrumental in bringing Bruning to Sanders County last week.