Training to help police tell if domestic abuse will escalate

Police agencies throughout Wisconsin will receive training on how to predict which domestic violence situations are most likely to escalate to homicide, Attorney General Brad Schimel announced Monday.

The centerpiece of the program is a form, known as lethality screening, that lists 11 questions front-line officers should ask all domestic abuse victims.

The questions are designed to get information ranging from an abuser’s prior use of weapons and access to guns to past instances of choking or strangulation and threats to a victim’s life.

The stakes are high: On average, about one person a week dies as a result of domestic violence in Wisconsin.

The state Department of Justice is funneling $500,000 in federal grants to End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin to expand lethality training between July 2018 and June 2020, Schimel said at a news conference Monday.

He called it a “tremendous step forward in developing safety and security to families and communities.”

So far, 93 law enforcement agencies and 17 victim service organizations in 20 counties have been trained to use the screening, he said.

End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin already has scheduled training in St. Croix and Iowa counties, thanks to the influx of grant money.

Monday’s announcement should be “a call to action for those remaining 50 counties to start using this tool,” said Patti Seger, the organization’s executive director.

Representatives from every police agency in Milwaukee County received the training in 2014 and have since developed a “high-risk” team to review those cases that have high lethality scores.