HARRISBURG, Pa. (EYT) — The Pennsylvania State Police will implement a new statewide program designed to identify domestic violence victims at heightened risk of serious or deadly abuse and connect them with immediate assistance.
The Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) will allow state police troopers responding to qualifying domestic violence incidents to conduct standardized screenings to determine whether victims face an increased risk of homicide.
The initiative will expand access to domestic violence support services across Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, including rural communities where state police provide primary law enforcement coverage.
Under the program, troopers will use a series of screening questions to identify warning signs associated with potentially life-threatening domestic violence.
When a victim is determined to be at elevated risk, troopers can immediately connect that individual with a local domestic violence advocate or hotline.
Those connections can provide access to safety planning, emergency shelter referrals, advocacy, and other resources intended to prevent further abuse.
“This program is another valuable tool that allows our Troopers to proactively identify and prevent victims of domestic violence from suffering further abuse by connecting them with trained domestic violence advocates and other critical resources that could save their lives,” said Lt. Col. George L. Bivens, acting commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police.
The program is based on a model developed by the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence (PCADV), which has worked with law enforcement agencies throughout the Commonwealth to implement the assessment process.
Pennsylvania has supported the program through partnerships involving the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency and PCADV since 2012.
According to state officials, the program has expanded to 62 additional police departments over the past two years.
Last year, law enforcement agencies conducted more than 3,600 screenings through the program, with 2,437 screenings, or approximately 67 percent, identifying victims at high risk.
The Pennsylvania State Police will join 493 other law enforcement agencies and 52 domestic violence programs already participating in the initiative.
Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, who chairs the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, said the expansion addresses requests from victim advocates and service providers for broader access to the program.
“They’ve been asking for the State Police to adopt this innovative and proven program statewide, to ensure victims receive the support they need, particularly in the more rural communities that PSP covers,” Davis said.
The Pennsylvania program is modeled after Maryland’s Lethality Assessment Program, which state officials noted was associated with a 32 percent reduction in domestic violence-related deaths in Maryland between 2008 and 2013.
Susan Higginbotham, chief executive officer of PCADV, welcomed the statewide implementation.
“The coalition is overjoyed by the planned implementation of this lifesaving tool by the Pennsylvania State Police in all 67 counties of the state because LAP has been proven to reduce lethality,” Higginbotham said.
State officials emphasized that the program is designed to strengthen cooperation between law enforcement and domestic violence service providers, particularly during the initial response to an incident when victims may face immediate danger.
The initiative is part of the Shapiro administration’s broader efforts to expand support services for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.