New Brunswick Domestic Violence Response Team 10th annual Comedy Relief Night raises awareness and funds for training
Members of the New Brunswick Police Department hosted a comedy night to support the Department’ s Domestic Violence Response Team.
New Brunswick Domestic Violence Response Team 10th annual Comedy Relief Night raises awareness and funds for training
In the heat of the moment, when members of the New Brunswick Police Department Domestic Violence Unit and Response Team are responding to a call, there is no laughter or levity in the air. But on Oct. 20 at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick, the DVRT’ s 10th Annual Comedy Relief Night fundraiser brought the laughs( and lip synching) to benefit victims of domestic violence within the city.
The event, which included the support of New Brunswick Local 23, drew 300 people and raised $ 15,000 – much-needed funding for the DVRT, which assists victims of domestic violence who often are traumatized, confused, uncertain or reluctant to seek help. The group also improves a victim’ s ability to make educated decisions about available options, and provides victims access to community resources.
Lieutenant Raymond Trigg, Bureau Commander of the New Brunswick Police Department’ s Community Outreach Bureau, explained that officers and volunteer team members receive 40 hours of
training through Women Aware, a New Brunswick – based organization with more than 35 years of experience providing services to survivors of domestic violence.
“ With any domestic violence case we get, we have to ask the victim if they want to speak with a Response Team member, even if they don’ t want to go to police headquarters,” he says.“ The training offers an abundance of resources. The training helps them to treat each case individually, and helps them give the victim any help she may need. It makes them more compassionate and understanding.”
In addition to training, money raised through Comedy Relief Night helps to pay for immediate necessities for victims – everything from basic toiletries and prescriptions to diapers and clothing.
“ If they are going into safe housing, they often don’ t bring anything with them, so they have a real need for these things,” explains Team Coordinator Tonya Jeter.“ The biggest challenge is housing. Where do they go after they leave this situation?
Once, we flew someone back to Florida, because that’ s where her support was.”
Through Comedy Relief Night and other community events, the DVRT hopes to raise awareness of domestic violence.“ We want people to get more involved,” Trigg submits.
That involvement can extend to volunteering with the DVRT. Trigg refers to the volunteers of the DVRT as the group’ s unsung heroes.
“ We always are looking for volunteers to assist a person in crisis,” adds Jeter.“ We have people from all different aspects of life – people who are social workers, people who work in hospitals, a Rutgers University maintenance worker, college students, even a husband and wife team. We provide the training. All that our volunteers need is a caring heart and a willingness to listen and assist someone.”
To find out more about the DVRT, call 732-745-5229. d
www. njcopsmagazine. com ■ NOVEMBER 2016 59