Lethality Assessment Program/Fatality and Domestic Violence

Many thanks to The Daily Item, who has published a number of articles recently about the Lethality Assessment Program.  I thought now would be an opportune time to re-post a blog Susan wrote a few months ago about this life-saving program.

Fatality and Domestic Violence

Domestic Violence is a life-threatening crime that affects millions of individuals regardless of age, economic status, race, religion or education.  Nationwide, an average of three women are killed by a current or former partner every day.   Advocates who work in the field of domestic violence know the high-risk stakes of the domestic violence situations that they encounter daily.  At Transitions, the first step we take when speaking with a victim contacts us is to safety plan to make sure that the person is not in immediate danger.  We must always be alert to the potential danger that may be present. 

This article will explore fatalities in the US and its effects on children; the deaths that have occurred in our service area (Union, Snyder and Northumberland Counties) over the last ten years; and what Transitions is doing to reduce fatalities.  All but one of our deaths was caused by gunshot wounds.

The 2012 Fatality Report issued by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV) is heavily focused on the use of guns in domestic violence fatalities.  Of the 110 domestic violence victims in PA in 2012, 58 were caused by guns.  In the cases where perpetrators died, almost all died by gunshot (29 of 31).

In an article by D. Hemenway in the Journal of the American Medical Association, guns make the murder rate for U.S. women highest among the wealthy nations.  While the U.S. represented around 32% of the female population among 25 high-income countries, it accounted for 84% of all female firearm homicides.  The difference in female homicide victimization rates between the U.S. and the other industrialized nations is very large and closely tied to levels of gun ownership.

Through a Child’s Eyes

Children are particularly vulnerable as both victims of and witnesses to domestic violence.  Approximately 15.5 million children are exposed to domestic violence every year.  These are only some of the tragic details about Pennsylvania’s children affected by domestic violence from the PCADV 2012 Fatality Report.

• A father slit the throats of his 6 year-old daughter, 11 year-old stepdaughter and their mother.  He also killed the family pets - a dog, goat and pony.
• A 39 year-old woman bludgeoned her 11 year-old daughter to death before setting their home on fire and killing herself.
• A 12 year-old girl found her mother dead at the bottom of the stairs.  The mother’s live-in boyfriend allegedly told the girl, ”I hate you bitch,” and tried to kick and punch the daughter as she fled the house.
• A pregnant woman was fatally shot in the head when her 8 year-old son and pre-school age daughter were in the house.

The 2011 Annual Epidemiological Report of Mecklenberg, NC, asserted that domestic violence is the “largest risk factor associated in infant and child deaths.”

Deaths in Union, Snyder and Northumberland Counties

In a review of fatalities in the counties that Transitions serves, there have been 17 domestic violence deaths since 2004.  16 deaths were by gun.   It is a startling list to review.

• 5.22.12 A 69 year-old Watsontown woman was fatally shot by her 85 year-old boy friend of 30 thirty years.

• 5.20.10 A 38 year-old Sunbury woman was shot three times outside her home by her 37 year-old husband.

• 6.18.10 A 45 year-old Middlecreek Township man was killed by police in a 14-hour long situation in which he took his mother, the minister and the minister’s wife hostage. 
• 1.18.08 A twenty-five year old man was shot by his girlfriend’s other boyfriend, a 40 year-old man, in Sunbury. The perpetrator also shot the girlfriend’s 24 year-old cousin.

• 3.1.08 A 46 year-old man was shot by his step-daughter’s 26 year-old fiancé in Richfield.

• 9.27.08 A 27 year-old mother of four was shot by her 46 year-old ex-fiance, the father of three of her children in Lewisburg.  She died three days later at a local hospital.

• 1.5.07 A 42 year-old mother of two was beaten and suffocated with paper towels by her 47 year-old husband in their Mt. Carmel home.  He then placed the victim’s body in a metal crate inside her SUV and drove to a nearby creek in Schuylkill County where he dumped the crate.

• 11.26.07 A 52 year-old man committed suicide after attacking his wife and adult son in Penn’s Creek.  His estranged wife had an active Protection from Abuse (PFA) Order against him.

• 10.20.06 An 82 year-old woman was shot by her 79 year-old husband in the couple’s Milton residence.  According to reports, the perpetrator and the victim had health problems in a home for the elderly; the perpetrator believed he was killing his wife out of “mercy.”

• 8.24.05 A 31 year-old mother of two was shot by her 31 year-old ex-husband, a police chief, outside of the hospital where she was employed in Mt. Carmel.

• 8.11.04 A 61 year-old man was fatally shot by his 36 year-old male roommate in the victim’s Delaware Township residence.  The perpetrator then stole the man’s shotgun and woman’s residence, he attempted to shoot her 14 year-old son before holding the authorities at a standoff for several hours.  Police used teargas to enter the home but not before the perpetrator shot and killed his 34 year-old estranged wife and committed suicide.

• 1.4.04 A 45 year-old woman was fatally shot by her 45 year-old estranged husband in a cornfield outside Sunbury.  The victim had refused to give the perpetrator a second chance at a relationship.

• 4.22.04 A 40 year-old woman was fatally shot by her 41 year-old boy friend in their Shamokin residence. He then committed suicide. Police responding to a 9-1-1 call arrived as three children, who also lived in the house were fleeing.

What Can We Do?  The Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) offers a solution.

Transitions has trained advocates available on its hotline (800-850-7948) for crisis counseling 24 hours a day and provides legal advocacy and shelter for survivors.  All national and state domestic violence hotlines for calls placed from Union, Snyder and Northumberland Counties feed to Transitions’ local hotline.  Transitions is also working with law enforcement to implement the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) in its counties over the next few years.

PCADV began its LAP leadership by asking law enforcement jurisdictions to volunteer.  LAP first began in 2005 in the state of Maryland. It was implemented statewide.  LAP’s success in Maryland and where it was implemented throughout the U.S. served as strong motivation for implementation in Pennsylvania.  LAP implementation began in 12 counties in Pennsylvania in 2011.

Dr. Kathryn Campbell, a professor at Maryland’s John Hopkins University, found that in only 4% of the cases in which women were killed in domestic violence situations did they reach out for assistance from advocates in domestic violence centers like Transitions.   In 50% of domestic violence-related homicides, officers had previously responded to a call on the scene.  Realizing that people at high risk of being killed were not reaching out for help, Dr. Campbell worked with the state of Maryland to implement the LAP and measured the results.  Using the LAP tool, law enforcement and advocates work as a team to link domestic violence victims with counseling and supportive services.    Dr. Campbell developed a validated one-page assessment that the officer uses when responding to a domestic disturbance call. 

When officers responds to a domestic disturbance call, they are in the highest risk situation that can be encountered in law enforcement.  The officer has to assess and address any immediate danger.  When the situation is under control, the officer then uses the LAP assessment tool to work with the victim to determine if there is a high risk of fatality for that person.  The LAP assessment is one sheet of questions.  Depending on the responses of the victim, if the assessment indicates high risk, the officer tells the victim he/she is at risk of being killed and offers the use of a telephone to speak directly to a locally-based domestic violence advocate who is available through the hotline 24 hours a day. 

The entire purpose of identifying victims who are in danger of death and getting them to speak with a hotline worker on the scene of a domestic call is to help victims obtain services.  Once victims are connected to services, they process of securing their lives through safety planning can begin.

Tracking results demonstrated success of the LAP in Maryland.  54% of victim/survivors were assessed by officers as high danger; 59% of people in high danger spoke on the phone to an advocate; 33% who spoke to an advocate went into services.   When the LAP was used, re-assault of high danger victims was reduced by 60%.

Conclusion

Every effort is being made to keep victims of domestic violence and their children safe from harm.  Research is providing proof that there are steps that law enforcement and advocates can take to reduce deaths.  Implementing the Lethality Assessment Program is expected to make a difference in Union, Snyder and Northumberland Counties.

Submitted by Susan Mathias