The Murfreesboro Police Department is asking the citizens of Murfreesboro to support child abuse victims, in an effort to promote positive childhood outcomes and ensure that every child benefits from a happy,
healthy, and safe childhood.
This November, the Department is partnering with the Child Advocacy Center to raise awareness of child
abuse, especially child sex abuse. This prevention campaign, called “19 Days of Activism”, offers citizens,
businesses, and community groups an opportunity to make a difference for the children in their sphere of
influence.
“The Child Advocacy Center is a great partner in preventing, detecting, and prosecuting child abuse cases,”
explained Glenn Chrisman, Chief of Police and President of the Board of Directors for the CAC. “Child sex
abuse can be prevented and we want the community to know that we all have an important part in making
that happen. As a law enforcement partner, we will contribute to this effort through intense training for all
department employees and continue in the aggressive investigation and prosecution of anyone who would
exploit and abuse children.”
Records show that the Child Protective Investigative Team investigates and reviews 50 to 60 new child
abuse cases every month. Last year, Murfreesboro Police responded and assisted victims in 95 of those
cases. The Child Protective Investigative Team reviews the cases monthly and presents them to District
Attorney General William C. Whitesell for criminal prosecution.
The MPD conducted “Darkness to Light” child sex abuse detection and prevention training for all of the
supervisor and police officer in-service training sessions in 2013 and will extend the training for civilian staff
beginning November 19 and continue through 2014. The MPD has four employees that are certified
“Darkness to Light” facilitators and are available to provide “Darkness to Light” training to citizens groups.
Child Advocacy Center Executive Director Sharon De Boer stated: “During the 2013 MPD In-Service
Training, I had the privilege to train the department on the “Darkness to Light” 7 Steps to Protecting Children
from Child Sexual Abuse. The City of Murfreesboro is very blessed to have an outstanding police
department with excellent officers from the Chief of Police to all the supervisors, detectives, and patrol
officers. The Child Advocacy Center staff works with the child abuse detectives on a daily basis and they
deserve to be commended for their outstanding service to our community’s youngest and most vulnerable
victims of crime. They are making a difference every day in the lives of abused children.”
For more information about training, contact the MPD Training Section at 895-3874. For more information
on the 19 Days of Activism, visit the Women’s World Summit Foundation
