CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- CMPD officers, medical professionals, and legal experts are in the middle of an intense week of training to learn how to spot strangulation victims. 

• More than 130 people gathered in Uptown Charlotte to train
• Participants went through mock crime scenes
• CMPD says strangulation training is essential, because most domestic violence victims that are killed start by being strangled

More than 130 people gathered in Uptown Charlotte to train on strangulation awareness and prevention.

Wednesday was a hands-on day of training, as participants went through mock crime scenes. 

The day started with a role play with a mock victim and a CMPD officer. Teams then went through a crime scene from start to finish, dissecting every piece of evidence.

Officers with CMPD say strangulation training is essential, because most domestic violence victims that are killed start by being strangled. Officials also say that 40 to 60 percent of known cop killers have a history of strangling.

For everyone in attendance, whether it was nurses or lawyers, today was an eye-opening experience as they got to see first hand what officers see every time they go to a scene, and what victims experience before they go to the hospital.

“It just helps me realize how it’s hard for them to put the story together, and to remember chronologically what happens and how they were feeling and things that they might have been thinking," says Patti Wiley, part of the Domestic Violence Healthcare Project at Atrium Health. 

The next step is to create a team of nurses that are trained to respond to strangulation calls when a victim goes to the hospital.