The woman had been beaten by someone close to her, was seriously hurt and seemed vulnerable to more violence if left at her home. In the past, Louisville Metro Police Detective Trinity Tillman would have had few ways to keep her safe beyond giving her a shelter's phone number.
But in this case, within a few hours, Tillman was able to get the woman to the shelter, where she was provided counseling, a new cellphone and a strategy for keeping herself safe.
A new partnership between metro police and the Center for Women and Families trains police officers to determine whether a victim is at high risk for being killed and offer immediate connections for safety.
"It's nice for us to be able to get the victim the help she needs," said Tillman, who recently left the 4th Division to join the domestic violence unit. "She needs help in more ways than we can provide."
In July, all Louisville police officers began training in the Lethality Assessment Program. Started in Maryland and adopted in 14 other states, the program uses 11 questions to help determine a victim's risk of a fatal attack. If the victim is found to be at high risk, the officer then calls the Center for Women and Families' crisis line and connects the victim to a counselor who can recommend immediate steps she can take to stay safe.
If the victim opts not to talk to a crisis counselor, the officer still makes the call and reports the victim's information. Within 24-hours the center attempts to follow up with the victim to see if he or she is ready for assistance.
Officers first began using the assessment tool at the end of July. The questions include whether the victim has ever been threatened with a weapon or with being killed, feels he or she may be killed, ever been choked, or received threatening messages.
The program only deals with domestic violence incidents involving intimate partners, which includes those who are married, divorced or separated, ever lived together, and those who have a child in common.
Based on the victim's answers, the officer determines whether the Center for Women and Families should be contacted. A dedicated phone line is available at the Center's crisis line, and officer calls are given priority. As part of the program, the Center has added additional staff to the line and now promises to provide a shelter bed for any Lethality Assessment Program referrals.
"Ultimately it's just about keeping somebody safe," said Tamara Reif, vice president for programs at the Center. "When police and the Center for Women and Families are working together, that says something really big to the client."
Through Oct. 12, police have initiated more than 400 calls to the crisis line through the program, and eight women have gone to the shelter as a result.
Last year before the program was implemented, three people in Louisville were killed in homicides that involved domestic violence between intimate partners. That's down from 10 in 2010.
"The opportunity to actually give a victim real time help ... that will help us reducing serious assaults and homicides, as well as repeat runs," said Lt. Carolyn Nunn, who oversees the domestic violence unit. "Domestic violence is a frustrating run to make because you want to help, but you don't always know how."
Only 4 percent of domestic violence homicide or attempted homicide victims nationally ever use the services of a shelter or domestic violence program, according to the Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence. Statistics for Louisville's cases weren't immediately available, but Reif said that when fatalities are reviewed by a panel here in Louisville it is common to find that a victim never connected with an agency that could help.
One of the most encouraging things about the initial launch of the program is the number of people who are communicating with the Center who have never sought help there before, Reif said. Of the initial 404 callers, 251 were new to the Center.
"We're talking to them for the first time and it's in the moment of crisis," Reif said, adding that over time she is confident that "by doing this we are hopefully going to be reducing homicides."
The Maryland Network Against Domestic Violence initiated the program in 2005 and has seen a 41 percent decrease in intimate partner homicides in teh past three years, according to the organization.
It was those results that got the attention of the Louisville-based Mary Byron Project, which brought organizers from Maryland to Louisville to talk with police and Center personnel.
"This project gives a concrete method for the police department to work with the crisis line," said Marcia Roth, director of the Mary Byron Project. "I'm so excited that it's here."
A grant under the federal Violence Against Women Act pays for police and Center personnel training with the assessment. The Center was able to supply funds to add staff and the crisis line was already in place. Once trained, the domestic violence officers trained others. The program will not cost additional money for officers to implement.
"This has great potential," said Police Chief Steve Conrad. "Domestic-related homicides are potentially preventable. This gives people the kind of advice and information they need in the heat of the moment."