News Article

Gonzaga University, in collaboration with Eastern Washington University, will host a conference Jan. 10-11 for a wide range of public safety, law, education and community health personnel titled, “Sexual Assault and Stalking Summit: Improving Investigation, Prosecution and Collaboration.”

The conference is designed to help agencies and communities create a coordinated and collaborative community response to incidents of sexual assault and stalking. The conference runs from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day in the Globe Room of Gonzaga’s Cataldo Hall.

Leading the conference will be Joanne Archambault, an internationally known trainer and retired sergeant of the San Diego Police Department. Archambault has a distinguished record of training law enforcement/security officers and community service providers about interviewing, documenting and investigating sexual assault.

Among the nearly 70 people registered for the conference so far are officials from the Kalispel Tribe, Okanogan County Sheriff’s office, Walla Walla city police, campus security from Gonzaga University, Washington State University, Eastern Washington University, and Whitworth University; SANE Nurses, victim advocates, and several state correctional officers.

Thursday’s Sessions Will Cover the Following Sexual Assault Topics:

• Its dynamics;
• How to effectively recognize and respond;
• How to interview sexual assault survivors; and
• Documentation and investigation techniques.

Friday’s Sessions Will Cover the Following Sexual Assault Topics:

• Investigating difficult cases;
• Understanding false and unfounded reports
• Dealing with drug-facilitated sexual assault;
• How to conduct a thorough sexual assault investigation;
• Guidelines to obtain forensic sexual assault exams for victims and suspects;
• The value and limitations of the forensic exam and possible evidence;
• The challenges and barriers to the criminal justice system;
• Identifying and responding to stalking on college campuses.

Also on Friday, a panel of local experts will answer questions and discuss ways to enhance community collaboration and response to these incidents.
For more information about the conference, contact Theresa Schinzel, sexual assault & harm prevention coordinator at GU, at (509) 323-5566 or via e-mail.