COLUMBUS, Ohio – Representatives from nearly two dozen central Ohio law enforcement agencies, as well as prosecutors and domestic violence advocates, will undergo training today in a new technique they hope will save lives in cases of domestic violence.
The program uses the Lethality Assessment Program, which includes an 11-question “lethality screen” researchers believe will allow officers and other first-responders to predict when someone’s life is in danger during a domestic violence situation and head off what’s called “intimate partner” homicide, according to the Domestic Violence and Stalking Unit of Columbus City Attorney Rick Pfeiffer’s office.
During the eight-hour training at the Columbus Division of Police Training Academy, they will learn about the program that officials hope will help those in the field assess a victim’s risk of being killed by their partner and provide information on how to connect victims to domestic violence services.
The program is adapted from “Danger Assessment,” a screening instrument developed in 1986 and used by clinicians and counselors to assess a victim’s risk of being killed by an intimate partner.