Program hoping to save women's lives by informing them on likelihood of being killed

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Utah is one of the deadliest states for domestic violence.

12 homicides related to domestic violence have taken place in the state since last June.

According to the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, 40%—nearly half—of all homicides since 2000 have been intimate partner related, with most victims being female.

However, there is a psychological assessment that some said is helping to improve that statistic.

It’s a tool that requires law enforcement and domestic violence resources to work together—quickly—to help save lives.

The Lethality Assessment Program was first developed in Maryland in 2005 to be a questionnaire that assists police in determining the urgency of a domestic violence situation.

In recent years Utah widely adopted the program, and some law enforcement are encouraged by the results.

After college junior Lauren McCluskey was murdered in 2018 at the hands of her abusive boyfriend, the University of Utah launched an internal investigation to find out why her multiple cries for help had been disregarded.

Keith Squires, chief safety officer at the university and part of the investigation said, “it was through our findings--the investigation and my previous experience with Utah Department of Safety, that I knew the value of the Lethality Assessment Program.”

Squires introduced the system to the University in 2018.

The Lethality Assessment Program, or LAP, for short-- is a list of eleven questions written by psychologists to help Law Enforcement determine if the victim of a domestic violence call is at risk of being killed by their partner.

The University was just one of many different organizations who have adopted the program in Utah since 2016.

55 Police Departments across the state currently use it.

Kristen Floyd, the executive director of the Safe Harbor Crisis Center, explained to 2News how the program works.

“If they answer ‘yes’ to any of the first three [questions] they're immediately scored as a high probability to a homicide,” explained Floyd. “If they say ‘yes’ to the majority of the rest of the questions, even if they didn’t answer to the first three, [then] they are still scored as a high probability for homicide.”

If a victim of domestic violence scores as high risk on the assessment, an officer will inform them of the danger they are in and connect them with a local domestic violence resource.

According to the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, scoring a high risk on the assessment is a high probability.

“81 percent were deemed high risk,” said Melissa Haenchen of the Coalition.

The Coalition also provided statistics to 2News Investigates that over 3,700 women over the last 11 months were screened and told that they were at risk of being killed by their partner.

The domestic violence coalition says around 33% of women in the state experience abuse at the hands of a partner.

Given Utah’s population, the percentage counts for double the population of Salt Lake City, the state’s largest city.

Given the coalition’s most recent statistics, if every woman who has experienced domestic assault were to be tested, hundreds of thousands would be at risk for homicide.

2News Investigates asked how accurate the program is in determining the lethality factor of a Domestic Violence relationship.

“The LAP is simply to be used as a tool to better understand a situation,” explained Haenchen. “It is a guide.”

By gauging the danger of the situation, the assessment helps women to save their own lives and therefore leads to the possible prevention of homicide.

However, the tool can only be useful if it is used.

When asked if students on campus knew that the program was in place, the University’s Victim’s Advocate Hilary White answered, “I think they know when they are experiencing the program.”

Following McCluskey’s homicide, the University hired a Victim’s Advocate to assist police in aiding victims of domestic and sexual assault.

“The Lethality Assessment Program] would be administered automatically with the victim survivor who is working with the police to report a domestic violence incident,” said White when asked when the LAP would be performed at the university.

In a follow up email, 2News Investigates asked if Zhifan Dong, a freshman who was killed off campus by a fellow student she was dating earlier this year, had been given the assessment.

Dong had reported a domestic assault by the same man to Salt Lake police just weeks earlier.

Since the report was not handled by the University, they said they did not administer the assessment to Dong.

Anti-domestic violence advocates say the program is only effective if it is used correctly, with resources and the proper support to help a victim feel safe enough to leave a situation.

Advocates say more effective tools to help prevent domestic violence altogether have yet to be created but with the proper state funding, they hope well one day get there.

If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, please call the national domestic violence hotline at 800-799-7233