Less than two years later, with civil litigation still pending, lawmakers in Utah are advancing legislation to strengthen how police investigate suspected intimate partner violence like the kind now believed to have led to Petito’s death.
The “Lethality Assessment Protocol” on which Utah’s proposal is based was first piloted in Maryland two decades ago. Roughly half of law enforcement departments in Utah currently use the assessment protocol, yet as of now there is no statewide mandate. Though police officers regularly ask questions when they have probable cause to believe crimes like domestic violence are being committed, those in the assessment are designed to screen for risk and are based on statistical data that draws correlations between certain behaviors and danger to potential victims’ lives, Weiler said. They include questions about prior threats, access to firearms and a history of behavior such as choking, jealousy or spying.
Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, whose cousin was shot and killed by her ex-husband last year, said 22% of homicides in Utah were intimate partner-related and that the majority of suspects had prior interaction with law enforcement.
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