Pennsylvania State Police have adopted the Lethality Assessment Program statewide, expanding a domestic-violence risk-screening process to every PSP station across the commonwealth.
The program gives troopers an 11-question checklist to use when responding to domestic-violence calls. The questions are designed to identify victims who face a high risk of being killed by an intimate partner. When a screening identifies elevated danger, the responding officer immediately connects the victim by phone with a local domestic-violence advocate.
State Police say the approach is intended to close the gap between an emergency response and ongoing safety services. Advocates can discuss shelter, safety planning, counseling, legal options and other local resources while the officer is still present.
According to PSP, 493 law-enforcement agencies and 52 domestic-violence programs now participate in the program across all 67 Pennsylvania counties. More than 3,600 screenings were completed statewide last year, and 2,437 — about 67 percent — identified victims at high risk.
The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence developed the statewide effort with law-enforcement and victim-service partners. PSP officials say the new policy makes the screening part of the agency’s standard response and helps ensure residents in rural areas receive the same immediate connection to advocates as people in larger communities.
More information is available from the Pennsylvania State Police.
