Jill Messing

The Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) is a collaboration between police and social service providers that places high risk victims of intimate partner violence (IPV) in immediate telephone contact with a social service provider at the scene of a police-involved IPV incident. This presentation will provide an overview of this program and examine research testing the following hypotheses: the LAP would (1) decrease the severity and frequency of subsequent IPV and (2) increase emergency safety planning and protective actions. Participants were recruited into the study at the scene of domestic violence incidents in 7 participating police jurisdictions in a single state in the Southwest U.S. A non-intervention comparison group was recruited prior to the intervention start. Both of the study hypotheses were supported. The intervention group reported a significant decrease in the severity and frequency of violence at follow-up and the intervention group also reported using significantly more protective strategies immediately after police intervention and at follow-up. The preponderance of evidence suggests that the LAP was effective at decreasing subsequent violence and facilitating social service intervention with women who have experienced police-involved IPV.