GATES, N.Y. (13WHAM) — Police agencies in Monroe County are among those required to provided increased domestic violence training to new recruits.
It’s part of an effort to save lives in what can often be the most unpredictable calls law enforcement respond to.
“Domestic violence is one of the biggest incidents that we go on,” Gates Police Chief Robert Long said. “It’s one of the most dangerous that we go on.”
Long said his department gets around three to four domestic violence calls per day. In 2023, Gates police responded to 1,292 calls. That number climbed to 1,355 in 2024 before dropping to 1,285 in 2025.
“It could be anything from the kid in the morning that doesn’t want to go to school, and the parent calls 911 … all the way up to a fight, parties not getting along, fighting at the house, orders of protection, violations of those,” Long said. “here’s so many things that fall under that umbrella of domestic violence, which is part of the reason and it makes it such a volatile thing for law enforcement.”
In other words, when they show up, it could be anything — and scenarios can turn violent in a split second.
“Domestic incidents, first of all, are one of the most dangerous situations that law enforcement members encounter,” said Aaron Pam, a senior associate with Tully Rinckey Attorneys.
Pam said the training will have three main focal points: lethality assessment training, interactive exercises, and the growing use of technology when responding to calls.
“One party may be attempting to delete things that are in the technology while the other parties attempting to preserve them,” he said, adding that so much context of what’s happening with a domestic argument is often times contained on mobile devices.
There will also be elements of de-escalation.
“Whenever possible, the minimal amount of force or the minimal amount of custodial intervention is what they’re trying to accomplish,” said Pam.
“The more that they’re prepared and the more that they’re supported, including the funding, the better the better we’ll all be,” he added.
Pam said the training is paid for from funding from New York’s Statewide Targeted Reductions in Intimate Partner Violence (STRIVE) program, an initiative dedicated to improve public safety response.
Long said the training will take place at the Monroe County Public Safety Training Facility, and a plan for local departments needs to be formalized by the end of January.
“Any additional training you can give us, or we can put together, we take and we like having it because it helps us do our jobs better.”
