Kirkland Police Chief Eric Olsen will join 24 other law enforcement executives from across the country this week for a leadership conference on domestic violence in Atlanta, Georgia.

He was selected to attend the National Law Enforcement Leadership Institute on Violence Against Women, hosted by The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). Through the Institute experience, IACP intends to raise the response to violence against women crimes higher on law enforcement’s agenda and support the adoption of best practices by the officers in the Kirkland Police Department.

The City of Kirkland has declared October as Domestic Violence Awareness month. There were over 800 domestic violence incidents reported in Kirkland for 2007.

During the three-day conference and training schedule, Olsen and other selected participants will explore innovative approaches for investigating crimes of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking. Additional attention will center on assessing agency performance and sharing challenges and solutions with law enforcement colleagues.

In an effort to help law enforcement agencies enhance their response to crimes of violence against women, the Institute will focus on planning and methods for effective resource allocation to help crime victims and hold perpetrators accountable. The participating law enforcement executives will be engaged in the development of action plans throughout the Institute in order to adopt new strategies for pro-active coordinated community collaboration upon returning to their departments.