CU Boulder police sergeant leads effort to train officers in lethality assessment tool

A University of Colorado Boulder sergeant is leading the way in using an assessment tool used to determine the level of danger a victim of domestic violence is in, and officials are hoping the tool will soon be used county-wide.

The Lethality Assessment Program was pioneered by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence based on research into characteristics of domestic violence cases that resulted in women’s deaths or near deaths.

The assessment tool was being used in Douglas County Colorado, so when Doreen Jokerst moved from Parker to become the chief of police at CU Boulder, she asked CU Sgt. Eric Edford to look at bringing the tool to Boulder.

“The reason we like this (assessment tool) is the scientific research that had gone into backing it,” said Edford, who is in the department’s investigations unit. “That’s why we were really drawn to it.”

The assessment tool consists of eleven questions. An officer responding to the scene of a domestic violence call that determines the case meets the criteria based on the answers will automatically follow a set protocol that puts the victim in touch with domestic violence resources.

“That way we can help them be safe and provide that ongoing support,” Edford said. “The ideal goal is saving lives and keeping things from recurring but also providing them tools.”

The protocol is automatically triggered if the victim answers yes to any of the following three questions:

• Has he/she ever used a weapon against you or threatened you with a weapon?
• Has he/she threatened to kill you or your children?
• Do you think he/she might try to kill you?

The protocol is also triggered if the victim answers yes to four of the following eight questions:

• Does he/she have a gun or can he/she get one easily?
• Has he/she ever tried to choke you?
• Is he/she violently or constantly jealous or does he/she control most of your daily activities?
• Have you left him/her or separated after living together or being married?
• Is he/she unemployed?
• Has he/she ever tried to kill himself/herself?
• Do you have a child that he/she knows is not his/hers?
• Does he/she follow or spy on you or leave threatening messages?

Boulder County Deputy District Attorney Anne Kelly, who heads up the office’s recently created domestic violence response team, said she believes this assessment tool is effective because it takes into account the victim’s knowledge and the entire history of the relationship in ways that assesments that rely on criminal histories or facts of the current case don’t.

“What I like about this assessment tool is the information about risk is coming from the victim,” Kelly said. “The victim is the most reliable and effective predictor of risk.”

As an example, Kelly noted the question, “Do you think he/she might try to kill you?”

“That can’t be answered by data or history,” Kelly said. “That can only be answered by that victim.”

But while a lot of research and study went into examining the risk factors, Edford noted that actually using the assessment is a matter of simple yes-or-no questions and easy for officers on scene.

“That’s the nice thing, the questions themselves are pretty self-explanatory,” Edford said.

Edford has been leading the effort to train more officers to use the tool so all Boulder County agencies can use it.

“He has been just amazing in his courage and leadership,” Kelly said of Edford. “If all of our agencies are utilizing this tool, we can incorporate that into bond arguments. I’m hoping that would be another tool to present to our judges.”

Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty said assessing domestic violence cases is important given the danger of those defendants reoffending.

“It’s about us in the criminal justice system doing a better job identifying where the greatest risk lies and us having a better response,” Dougherty said.

Edford said domestic violence calls are not just dangerous for victims, but also for offenders and officers. Edford’s work was honored at a ceremony for Boulder County domestic violence advocates named after Beth Haynes, a Boulder police officer killed while responding to a domestic violence call.

“These are volatile types of crimes and volatile types of situations,” Edford said. “It’s deadly for law enforcement walking in and deadly for victims and sometimes perpetrators.”

With that in mind, Edford said he has had discussion with the Colorado District Attorney’s Council about spreading this assessment tool not just across Boulder County, but across the state.

“That would be the goal, be it this tool or another, to have some of these tools and some these questions pushed to to the field, pushed out to the officers so they can help save lives,” Edford said.