Gilbert Police Department Family Violence Unit (FVU)
The Family Violence Unit is a vital part of the Gilbert Police Department. The unit has a specialized knowledge of domestic violence situations which allows them to appropriately direct resources and better assist victims. Detectives work side by side with Gilbert Youth and Adult Resources and other community partners to provide assistance to victims of domestic violence while providing the highest investigative attention to these potentially dangerous situations.
FVU History
In 2015, the Gilbert Police Department established the Family Violence Unit. The unit was initially comprised of two uniformed patrol officers with specialized knowledge of domestic violence dynamics.
The unit's sole function was to investigate domestic violence related crimes and provide assistance to victims and families of domestic violence. Through collaboration with outside resources, the Gilbert Prosecutor’s Office and Gilbert Youth and Adult Resources; Family Violence Officers established themselves as an integral part of the Gilbert Police Department’s force to combat domestic violence within the community.
In March of 2017, the Family Violence Unit was adopted into the Criminal Investigative Division within the police department which changed the function of the Officers from initial response and investigation to purely a detective type investigative unit.
In 2022, the unit added a full-time victim advocate. In 2023, Gilbert PD added a second full-time victim advocate and launched its first victim's advocate internship program.
This provided more opportunity for the Family Violence Unit to combat the highly complex and often highly violent cases of domestic violence.
