Intervention with police officers about intimate partner violence

The importance of the police in cases of intimate partner violence is undeniable. The objective of the present study was to evaluate a brief training for police officers of the city of Curitiba on intimate partner violence. A total of 134 police officers, divided into control (n = 76) and intervention (n = 58) groups, participated in the study. The latter underwent four sessions about definitions of intimate partner violence, the cycle of violence, and crisis intervention. All participants answered a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Perception Scale on Domestic Violence Victim Support, and the Questionnaire of Beliefs on Domestic Violence. The results indicate the absence of significant changes in the general scores of the instruments between pre- and post-test for both groups. Three questions presented significant improvements in the Questionnaire of Beliefs on Domestic Violence. Future research should continue to test effective forms of police trainings at the beginning of their careers.