Filed by Gail Banzet in Feature, Health, Local News, News.
November 10, 2009

Oklahoma’s number of domestic violence homicides ranks in the top 10 nationally, and statistics show Oklahoma women are at a much higher risk to be murdered by their partners. Now a select group of police departments in the state plan to administer a lethality assessment to determine the victim’s relationship with an abuser and prevent domestic violence.

Members of the Oklahoma Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board have been researching domestic violence homicides for years. Case review analysis shows a lot of abuse calls could be prevented if people knew what signs precede abusive situations. Janet Sullivan-Wilson is a member of the fatality review board.

“Service providers don’t recognize the red flags or lethality signs that those of us who are in research in this area have just come to know over the years,” Sullivan Wilson said.

Sullivan-Wilson and her colleagues adopted a domestic violence assessment used by police in the state of Maryland. It was developed by a health professional at John Hopkins University, but reworked by the fatality review board and Oklahoma law enforcement officials. The list consists of 11 vital questions regarding the behavior of an abuser and their relationship with the victim. Sullivan-Wilson said it could provide a whole new level of insight to abuse cases.

“This could be one of the first evidence-based practices for police dealing with domestic violence,” she said.

Through a 2-year, 600,000-dollar grant, eight Oklahoma law enforcement agencies will participate in the lethality assessment. They include Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Broken Arrow and Stillwater Police Department where Ron Thrasher is deputy chief. He said investigators are hard-pressed to find a homicide that doesn’t involve a domestic violence component. According to Thrasher, phase 1 of the study evaluation research to determine if the lethality assessment is valid and saves lives.

“We have specially trained our officers to provide victims with information about the research and asking victims if they would like to cooperate and participate with the research. Right now we are in the process of collecting a pool of victims that are willing to participate in the research,” Thrasher said.

The second phase of the lethality assessment involves police officers using the 11-question list on scene. Officers can talk with the victim and use the feedback to determine whether or not they need to call in additional support such as Stillwater Domestic Violence Services. Dr. Ralph Lindsey is the organization’s executive director. He said the questions will allow law enforcement to immediately connect a victim with his agency if necessary.

“They will ask this series of about 10 or 11 questions and based on their responses if they see the individual as a high-risk, then they will actually right then stop and they will call our crisis line and make arrangements for that individual to speak with a crisis line worker right then and there,” Lindsey said.

Abuse advocates say there have been more than 50 domestic violence fatalities this year alone in Oklahoma. And because research shows domestic abuse escalates and worsens with time, the sooner a victim can be identified and receive help, the better. Researchers hope to conduct around 300 interviews and complete their comparison group by early 2010. Participating law officers will then begin using the lethality assessment on scene.