Full Notification

In 2017 the Janesville Police Department responded to nearly 800 domestic related calls. Wisconsin experienced the highest number of deaths related to domestic violence in 2016, the latest year for which data is fully available. 59 victims were killed and 14 perpetrators committed suicide immediately after committing a homicide. Between 1986 and 2012, Janesville experienced 10 domestic related homicides. In an attempt to avoid future tragedies, the Janesville Police Department is partnering with the YWCA of Rock County to implement a Lethality Assessment Program (LAP). The goal of the program is to prevent intimate partner homicides.

The Lethality Assessment Program was developed by the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence using research from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The program evaluates shared characteristics among victims of homicide or attempted homicide and trains officers to spot those while responding to domestic violence calls. The Lethality Assessment Program provides a two-hour training process that allows law enforcement officers to better assess when the life of a domestic violence victim is at high risk of being killed by their abuser.

Under the program, Janesville officers who respond to domestic calls will screen a suspected victim of domestic violence by asking 11 questions that relate to behavior, threats against life and use of weapons.

If a victim answers yes to some of the questions, the person is immediately referred to support services while officers are still on-scene. The on-scene call goes to the YWCA hotline. The YWCA can then offer services to the victim such as shelter, safety planning, case management, and legal advocacy.

The LAP is currently being used in 37 states and 19 Wisconsin counties covering 93 Wisconsin law enforcement agencies. It is our hope that this program coupled with our existing Domestic Violence Intervention team, will prevent the tragedy of domestic violence homicides in our community.

Incident Number:
Location: 100 N. Jackson St.
By: Sgt. Brian Vaughn
Date: 05/30/2018