Lethality Assessment Project
The Lethality Assessment Project is an innovative program which partners law enforcement personnel and domestic violence service providers in an effort to identify and assist victims of domestic violence who are at risk of being killed.
The Lethality Assessment screen is a questionnaire that contains a series of eleven questions. These questions are used as a tool by law enforcement to determine a victim’s potential for being killed by their intimate partner. A specified combination and quantity of “yes” answers to the questions on the screen will alert a Law Enforcement Officer to the severity of the danger a domestic violence victim faces. If a victim answers the particular questions that would alert the Law Enforcement Officer to the level of danger considered “high danger”, the Law Enforcement Officer will call The MSCFV hotline and tell the hotline worker of the situation. The Law Enforcement Officer will then put the victim on the phone with our hotline worker to explain our services and go over safety planning strategies with the victim.
The Lethality Assessment program was initiated in the Mid-Shore region in November of 2005 with Kent County Sheriff's Office, Queen Anne's County Sheriff's Office, and Cambridge City Police participating. Currently, there are 23 Police Agencies in the Mid Shore participating in the Lethality Assessment program.