This is a 3-year Office on Violence Against Women Firearms Technical Assistance Project Pilot grant funded position. There may be an opportunity to extend the grant funds for an additional 2 years. The vision is that the position will become self-sustaining once the grant funding ends.
In early 2021, the Yakima Police Department approached its criminal justice and community partners to begin a working group focused on understanding and studying intimate partner domestic violence in the City of Yakima. This group has been meeting regularly to better identify and track intimate partner violence in a coordinated, data driven way so as to strategize on ways to improve our collective response to domestic violence with the goal of holding offenders accountable through enhanced prosecution and probation while also protecting the safety of victims.
Specific strategies include:
- Create a multidisciplinary team
- Increase victim and community education and outreach
- Data sharing and analysis
- Learn from subject matter experts
- Learn from others who have deployed similar strategies
- Assist children living in households with family violence (Handle with Care)
- Support firearm surrender in firearm positive cases
The Site/Project Coordinator will lead the interdisciplinary management team responsible for implementation of the project. The Site/Project Coordinator position is responsible for overseeing the development, implementation, coordination, operation, and growth of the project. The position will ensure that the planned activities, objectives, and goals are being accomplished, and will serve as the liaison across the partner agencies and organizations. The position will be expected to facilitate communication, collaboration, and negotiation between the interdisciplinary team.
The Site/Project Coordinator will report to Lt. Chad Janis, or his designee, who supervises the Yakima Police Department Domestic Violence Unit, and will help lead agencies in short and long-term planning to assure the continuing development and sustainability of the coordinated community strategies listed above. |