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Witnesses to Crimes Can Also Be Trauma Victims

Recently, ten detectives from the Omaha Police Department attended training that taught them how trauma affects the brain and memory, and provided them with ways to conduct interviews in a trauma-informed way.

This training was put into practice soon after at the scene of a homicide with a child witness. Victim of one of the most traumatic experiences any of us can imagine, the child was brought to Project Harmony and interviewed both as a victim (recognizing her experience) and a witness to the event.

Police detectives paid special attention to the child’s mental state, taking extra precautions not to re-traumatize her.

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