Missoula expert delivers strangulation training in Gallatin County
Haven and local partners had the chance Thursday to learn how to best support survivors, document cases, and hold offenders accountable in cases of strangulation, a form of partner abuse that’s the highest predictor of homicide for survivors.
The training and round table on Aug. 7 put on by Missoula Police Department Detective Nate Griesse covered the realities of strangulation, which only became a stand-alone crime in Montana in 2017.
Strangulation is the single highest predictor of homicide for women survivors. Female survivors who’ve experienced strangulation are 750 percent more likely to become a victim of homicide; that figure increases to 1100 percent if the abuser has access to firearms.
Abusers who strangle partners are dangerous to law enforcement as well, with a 2013 study of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty over a 10-year period showing that half of those officers were killed by a suspect with a history of strangling women in a previous relationship.
Only about 3 percent of strangulation survivors access medical help; about 50 percent of survivors have no visible injuries after experiencing strangulation.
Some two dozen people attended the training, including Belgrade, West Yellowstone, and Gallatin County law enforcement; probation and parole staff; city and county attorneys and victim services personnel; and Haven advocates.
“Our job is to make sure no survivor falls through the cracks,” said Haven staffer and county Domestic Violence Response Team coordinator Bailey Brubaker. “Strangulation is a critical red flag—it demands a coordinated response. When partners across law enforcement, health care, and advocacy come together like this, we strengthen every part of the safety net.”
“We need to work together as a team, using a victim-centered and survivor-centered approach, to have the best possible outcomes with services and accountability,” said Detective Griesse, who was part of the team in Missoula County that created and followed a strangulation protocol to save lives.
He said that since Missoula combined efforts in 2022, the county has seen 77% more survivors being taken to local hospitals after emergency calls, because ambulance staff and police officers are on the same page and taking strangulation seriously.