Police Departments’ Use of the Lethality Assessment Program: A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation

• In Event: Policing Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

Calling the police is one of the most commonly employed help seeking strategies by women in abusive relationships, though social services are more often rated as helpful by survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and have been shown to be more effective at reducing subsequent violence. The purpose of this National Institute of Justice funded nonequivalent groups quasi-experimental research was to examine the effectiveness of the Lethality Assessment Program (LAP), a collaboration between police and social service providers that places victims of IPV in immediate telephone contact with a social service provider at the scene of a police-involved domestic violence incident. Women participated in a structured telephone interview as soon as possible after police intervention and a follow-up interview at a median of 7 months later (intervention n=202, comparison n= 212). The intervention group reported a significant decrease in the severity and frequency of violence (B=-14.71, p<.05) and reported using significantly more protective strategies both immediately after the index event (e.g., seeking services, removing/hiding weapons) and at follow-up (e.g., orders of protection, establishing a code with family/friends). Results are discussed in the context of strategies for policing IPV and provision of resources for victims at risk of intimate partner homicide.

Authors

• Jill Theresa Messing, Arizona State University

• Jacquelyn Campbell, Johns Hopkins University

• Janet Sullivan Wilson, University of Oklahoma

• Sheryll Brown, Oklahoma State Department of Health

• Beverly Patchell, University of Utah