ZACHARY, La. (BRPROUD) — Through a grant from Louisiana Commission Law Enforcement (LCLF) and a partnership with Zachary Police Department, over 60 law enforcement officers were able to have an all-day training session on Thursday. 

The ‘Protecting Louisiana Families Training’ (PLFT) program, was a two-day training from the Louisiana Department of Justice that included domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking informative sessions. 

The police officers in attendance received an opportunity to learn on how to talk to a domestic violence victim, local resources, an insight into what a sexual nurse examiner sees and more.

Darryl Lawrence, Chief of Zachary Police Department, said the session is important training for local law enforcement. 

“It’s important for us to know exactly how we’re supposed to work these cases so we can help the victims. We want to make sure that we focus on the victim along with helping the perpetrator,” said Lawrence. 

Monica Taylor, special projects coordinator for the Louisiana Department of Justice said the sessions were meant to help officers deal with cases and overall help the community in many ways.

“It’s really about teaching law enforcement what the victims are going through. What the neurobiology of trauma means, how to best work with the victims, and how to provide the best possible service to the victims,” Taylor said. 

Taylor also mentioned that it’s important for local officers to know how to protect themselves when dealing with domestic and human trafficking cases, especially locally. 

“We’ve seen this area, especially in Baton Rouge. We’ve seen how dangerous those calls can be for law enforcement, so we want to make sure they have all the tools that they need to keep themselves safe and the public safe,” she said. “When it comes to domestic violence, we are fifth in the nation in domestic violence homicide so we have far too many people being murdered and Louisiana is part of the domestic situation.” 

Taylor said the grant covering the PLFT training sessions has been around for the past 20 years through the LCLF. 

She mentioned the training sessions have come to an end but will continue with another grant cycle through state and regional training sessions.