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Newport News Police Department
5. A letter of arrest is only required in misdemeanor domestic violence cases when the accused is a
sworn member of the Police Department.
C. Lethality Assessment Protocol (L.A.P.)
1. Officers are to initiate L.A.P. when an intimate relationship is involved in a domestic incident and
the officer believes the situation could lead to serious injury or death to anyone involved. The officer
should make this determination while evaluating the totality of the circumstances. Factors the officer
should consider include (but are not limited to):
a. A high potential for serious injury/death.
b. An assault has occurred, resulting in serious injury.
c. The name(s)/location(s) of the offense are repeat name(s)/location(s).
d. Serious threats have been made to the victim and/or the victim's children.
e. Noticeable fear displayed by the victim.
f. The call-for-service is to a household where an existing protective order has been violated.
g. The officer believes the L.A.P. should be conducted based on experience, training and instinct.
2. L.A.P. Screening – When screening the victim for the L.A.P., the officer should take the following steps:
a. L.A.P. should be facilitated away from the offender in an effort to minimize victim intimidation.
b. L.A.P. should only be facilitated on the victim of intimate partner violence Advise the victim
they will be asked a series of questions to determine the immediate potential for danger to them.
c. Ask all the questions in the order in which they are listed on the screening form, using the
FORSETI system.
d. The L.A.P. Screening responses help determine the risk level of the victim and the potential for
danger.
e. Once completed, submit the form.
f. If the L.A.P. referral is not triggered, or the victim does not answer the screening questions, the
officer will:
1) Advise the victim that domestic violence is dangerous and sometimes fatal.
2) Inform the victim to watch for the signs listed in the screening assessment, which may
indicate an increased level of danger.
3) Provide Domestic Violence Referral Information to the victim and encourage the victim to
contact the Domestic Violence Hotline.
g. If a high-danger assessment is made, or the officer believes it is appropriate, a referral will be
implemented, and the officer will advise the victim:
1) That the situation has shown there is an increased level of danger and that people in the
victim's situation have been killed or seriously injured; and
2) That they would like to call the Domestic Violence Hotline, using the dedicated police line on
provided by the FORSETI form, and have the victim speak with an advocate.
NOTE: The dedicated police line is only meant for law enforcement officer use and will not
be given to the public. Officers will use their department issued cell phone to contact this
number.
3) If the victim declines to speak with the advocate, the officer will tell the victim:
a) The officer will contact the hotline.
b) The officer would like the victim to reconsider speaking with the hotline advocate.
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