Strengthening Collaboration: Law Enforcement Engagement for Sexual Assault Response Teams

Sexual assault is a complex crime that requires a comprehensive, coordinated response. Sexual Assault Response Teams (SARTs) can provide the needed collaborative structure for law enforcement, victim advocates, prosecutors, medical personnel, and allied partners to work together to overcome challenges in responding to crimes of sexual assault and implement successful practices to support victims and hold offenders accountable. This webinar will explore law enforcement engagement on SARTs and sustaining healthy partnerships to strengthen casework and victim support. The facilitators will discuss challenges often faced by SARTs when engaging law enforcement and strategies to strengthen communication, foster buy-in, and build trust. SART partner roles and responsibilities will be explored as well as promising national practices.

Learning Objectives:

• Define collaborative engagement and the role of SARTs
• Identify strategies for creating partnerships with law enforcement and sustaining SART participation
• Understand roles and responsibilities of SART members
• Discuss how participation in a SART can benefit law enforcement response and investigations to sexual assault