Intimate partner violence and domestic violence killings are a serious public health problem, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But police can help prevent such killings, experts say, by using a questionnaire more states are seeking to make mandatory or more widely used during domestic violence calls.
In the wake of the well-publicized case of Gabby Petito, killed by her fiancé in 2021, Utah this spring enacted a law that requires police to conduct “lethality assessments” at domestic violence scenes.
The model lethality assessment practice, developed by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence, starts with an 11-question survey to determine whether a person’s life is at risk. The officer or first responder informs the victim of their screening score on the assessment and then calls a local domestic violence service hotline, connecting the hotline with the victim, if the victim is willing, to develop an immediate safety plan that might include emergency shelter.
Some Utah police already had been using lethality assessments on domestic violence calls. But since the state law went into effect, Utah has seen a sharp increase in shelter demand and referrals.
Full story: Police officers can help prevent domestic violence killings by asking the right questions – Stateline