An Innovative & Collaboaritve Approach to Saving Lives
Fayette Cares staff and volunteers recently returned to the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) to provide Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) training to 50+ deputies and staff. The program involves a lifesaving screening tool and protocol aimed at predicting and preventing intimate partner homicide and injury.
The use of LAP is increasing nationwide and provides help to victims at a time when they are most vulnerable. Officers ask specific questions to victims at the scene of the crime.
The victim’s responses help assess the risk and trigger a protocol to educate victims and initiate interventions.
If a victim screens as high danger, law enforcement immediately calls the Fayette Cares hotline and can quickly connect to emergency shelter or other services. This innovative and collaborative effort creates a coordinated response to breaking the cycle of violence.
FCSO has taken the program to the next level by automating this screening tool in their new Computer Aided Dispatch systems. Now every domestic violence call is screened. If an arrest is made, the forms are automatically sent to the General Sessions Court Judge who can use the information to make decisions regarding bail.
The program protects victims, holds batterers accountable, and makes communities safer.
To learn more or volunteer for the hotline, call (901) 465-3802 x 221 or visit FayetteCares.org.
