LETHALITY ASSESSMENT PROGRAM
The Lethality Assessment Program is an innovative initiative 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.
Over the past five years, an average of 69 women, children and men died in Maryland as a result of domestic violence. The Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence (MNADV) recognized the importance of supporting the efforts of first responders to identify and respond to potentially lethal situations. With that in mind the MNADV developed the Maryland Domestic Violence Lethality Screen and Protocol for First Responders, which offers practical methods of working with victims to assess and act upon the danger they may face.
With the support of a Violence Against Women grant through the Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention, the MNADV established a statewide Lethality Assessment Committee, comprised of law enforcement officers, a prosecutor, an investigator, a parole and probation agent, domestic violence advocates, and researchers who have done significant work in the area of domestic violence. The committee's work is a vital combination of field experience and scientific research.
The committee developed a short screen which is an application of the research of Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell of the Johns Hopkins University, who created the nationally respected domestic violence Danger Assessment, and is a member of the MNADV team. The screen and accompanying protocol that the committee developed is designed to provide law enforcement personnel with a tool, that can be administered at the scene. When they identify individuals who are more likely to be the victim of homicide or near homicide at the hands of their partner, they can initiate a protocol to connect them with a domestic violence service provider.
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. Easton Police Department began conducting Lethality Assessments in 2005. By the later fall of 2006 all police agencies in the Mid-Shore area will be participating in this program.
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