West Valley City Police Chief Lee Russo says that for a long time, police officers went to the scene of domestic violence calls and treated them in a "mechanical way." They would ask for the facts — the who, what, and where — and then move on. But, Russo says, that type of investigation wasn't doing much to help the victims and the officers oftentimes failed to recognize that behind a physically abused victim, there was a psychologically abused person, as well. In January, his officers began using the Lethality Assessment Protocol (LAP) program to help connect domestic violence victims to resources that can help them.
Russo and the Utah Domestic Violence Coalition cite statistics and research showing that 47 percent of Utah homicides in 2015 were domestic violence related and that states that are using Lethality Assessment Protocol have reduced their domestic violence homicide rate 50 percent. Chief Russo says the LAP is literally saving lives. The Utah Domestic Violence Coalition is asking state lawmakers for $895,000 in one-time funding to expand LAP training from just a few pilot program areas — like West Valley City — to a statewide initiative.
Today we’ll talk with Chief Russo and Jenn Oxborrow, Executive Director, Utah Domestic Violence Coalition.
