Lethality Assessment Program

The Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) is an innovative strategy and partnership with law enforcement to implement nationally recognized risk assessment strategies to better serve domestic violence victims who are in the greatest danger.

The Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) seeks to prevent domestic violence homicides and serious injuries. It provides an easy and effective method for law enforcement and other community professionals—such as health care providers, clergy members, case workers, and court personnel—to identify victims of domestic violence who are at the highest risk of being seriously injured or killed by their intimate partners and immediately connect them to the local domestic violence service program.

LAP is a multi-pronged intervention that consists of a standardized, evidence-based lethality assessment questionnaire that police officers use when on a domestic violence call. Depending on the victim’s answers, various options come into play. If more than 3 answers indicate potential lethality first responders must contact the local domestic violence agency. The evidence suggests that the number of women murdered Connecticut has decreased as a result.

The nationally recognized LAP model was developed by the Maryland Network to End Domestic Violence in 2005.