Program IDs potential domestic violence victims, perpetrators’ methods

Be afraid, be very afraid, if your "loved one" has ever strangled you.

Strangulation is one of 11 signs Las Vegas police recently started looking for in domestic violence cases, because it's one indicator the violence could escalate to murder.

The 11 signs are not just wild guesses; they're based on more than 25 years of research in Maryland. Using that information, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department started a pilot program Feb. 23 called the Lethality Assessment Program for domestic violence and battery calls.

"The checklist is used to decide who are the most dangerous offenders and the most at-risk victims," said Capt. Vincent Cannito of the Crimes Against Youth & Family Bureau. "We are trying to identify those most likely to be murdered."

Even he was taken aback by what the program showed.

Last year's reports identified about 200 cases where strangulation was involved. "Since the inception of the pilot program, we're now up to 1,200 victims identified as being strangled. It's a very significant number," he said.

Even before the pilot program finished in two command areas, Sheriff Doug Gillespie decided it will go departmentwide next April 1, because the lethality assessment, plus a new law, has the potential to save lives.

Last year, there were 38 homicides tied to domestic violence. Domestic violence calls account for 8 percent of all Las Vegas police calls. In raw numbers, out of about 60,000 domestic violence calls, roughly 24,000 are investigated.

Here's the new police checklist. The first three questions automatically make someone at high risk of danger if the answer is "yes" to any of the three.

1. Has your partner (or whoever the aggressor is) ever used a weapon against you or threatened you with a weapon?

2. Has he/she ever threatened to kill you or your children?

3. Do you think he/she might try to kill you?

If the answer is "yes" to three of the next eight questions, then there is a high risk of danger.

4. Does he/she have a gun or can he/she get one easily?

5. Has he/she ever tried to strangle you?

6. Is he/she violently or constantly jealous or do they control most or all of your daily activities?

7. Have you left him/her or separated after living together or being married?

8. Is he/she unemployed?

9. Has he/she ever tried to kill himself/herself?

10. Do you have a blended family (stepchildren)?

11. Does he/she follow or spy on you or leave threatening messages?

Once a dangerous offender is identified, police contact Safe Nest immediately to see if the victim will accept help. Tragically, nearly half refuse. So as part of this new strategy, police contact the victims who refused a second time. Out of the 47 percent who first refused, 10 percent will follow through to get help.

Identifying and arresting the most dangerous offenders is only part of the solution. Assistant District Attorney Chris Lalli, who oversees the criminal division, has committed to prosecuting the most serious offenders, Cannito said.

Since domestic violence is usually a misdemeanor, prosecution has been aided by a new law making strangulation a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and a $15,000 fine, when there is battery with substantial bodily harm.

Assemblyman William Horne, D-Las Vegas, and Assemblywoman Heidi Gansert, R-Reno introduced the bill. For her, it was personal.

"I can tell you that everybody has been touched by domestic violence. I have a member of my family who had a relationship with a man who was very violent, and what he always did was strangulation," she testified, though he never left marks.

Strangulation doesn't always leave signs, making it easier for the assailant to get away with it, especially if the victim won't speak out.

Poker players have tells and now we know that the most violent aggressors in domestic violence cases have tells, too.

Think of strangling as not just an up close and personal act of violence, an exhibition of power and control over a victim, but a tell hinting at the possibility of murder.

If you have been strangled and the checklist above fits you, this would be the time to contact either police or Safe Nest, which has a 24-hour crisis line at 1-800-486-7282.

Strangulation is a tell worth telling.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison/.