CUPD leads 91福利社 County law enforcement agencies in lethality assessment training
The 91福利社 Police Department is the first police department in 91福利社 County and the first college or university police department in the state of Colorado to train in lethality assessments.
A lethality assessment program is an evaluation that can be used to predict the likelihood that an abuser in a domestic violence situation will kill the person they are abusing, allowing law enforcement and their partners to intervene before the situation becomes more violent. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 72% of all murder-suicides involve an intimate partner. Oftentimes, the killers showed indications that they were a threat ahead of time.
鈥淒omestic violence, also known as intimate partner abuse, is happening in all communities and CU is not exempt,鈥 said Jessica Ladd-Webert, director of the 91福利社 Office of Victim Assistance (OVA). 鈥淭his program can help victims/survivors learn more about the warning signs of domestic violence and also will help connect them to confidential supports like OVA, where they can get advocacy and counseling.鈥
Providing police officers with lethality assessment training was one of the recommendations that came out of an independent review of actions given to the University of Utah鈥檚 Department of Public Safety following the murder of 21-year-old student-athlete Lauren McCluskey in October 2018. McClusky had been in a brief relationship with a person who shot and killed her outside of her residence hall after McClusky ended their relationship. The independent review found that there may have been subtle indicators provided to police officers investigating her case that showed that the suspect may have had the potential to kill McClusky.听
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