LAP + Community
By completing the LAP screening with an officer, we can connect survivors of intimate partner violence to services, a key intervention to increase their safety. Learn how CT LAP has impacted others in our community.
The Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) is a life-saving tool that strengthens communities across Connecticut.
An evidence-based risk assessment, CT LAP creates a structure for law enforcement to assess the level of danger of an intimate partner violence situation and quickly get survivors connected to local domestic violence advocates.
Information gathered through the screening process not only helps police assess risk, but can also allow survivors to see their relationship through a new lens and better recognize behaviors as abusive or unhealthy.
CT LAP also helps to hold offenders accountable by looking at the history of the relationship and assessing other abusive behaviors that rise to the level of a crime.
Domestic violence is a preventable public health crisis and CT LAP plays an important role in Connecticut’s response. The conversations generated through the CT LAP process build connections within communities, allowing law enforcement, advocates, and survivors to all work collaboratively and learn from one another.
By facilitating an understanding of each other’s perspectives, roles, and responsibilities,
CT LAP provides an invaluable opportunity for creating meaningful change.
CT LAP is a way to help keep you
and your family safe from escalating harm.
and your family safe from escalating harm.
After receiving many threats from her abuser, the victim reported the messages to police and was connected to her local domestic violence program through LAP.
At the time of the call, the victim was scared and overwhelmed, but when an advocate followed up with her the next day, she felt safe and comfortable.
LAP connected the victim to the advocate, who was able to offer resources such as assistance with a temporary restraining order application for her children and basic needs, including public benefits.
The victim was thankful for LAP because it connected her with her advocate, whom she states always helps her to feel better.
Violence can make us feel isolated.
You deserve to be heard.
You deserve to be heard.
The police arrived at a domestic violence call with a report of a woman having been strangled and assaulted.
The officer took the time to complete the LAP screen with the victim and reiterated to her the potential risk she may be facing due to the questions to which she answered ‘yes’.
The victim was hesitant to get on the phone with the advocate, but the advocate was calming and comforting, even praising her for being brave enough to speak with her.
This instantly put the victim at ease and made her more receptive to the safety plan the advocate created with her. Prior to this phone call, the victim did not even know her local domestic violence agency existed.
The victim felt like both the advocate and officer really cared about her and she was grateful for the opportunity to learn about her local program and have the advocate’s support in the future.
Respecting Differences to Build Bridges to Safety
“It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” - Audre Lorde
Culture is a way of thinking, behaving, or working within a group, community, or place.
Recognizing and respecting differences that stem from culture is an important piece of our ability to successfully interact with and support one another. This is achieved first and foremost through empathy, understanding that difference is neither bad nor something that needs to be changed. Instead, our differences are simply an indication that our experiences are different and that we can learn from one another.
It is not uncommon for people and groups from different cultures to distrust one another because of a lack of understanding.
This can be true for interactions between some minority communities, including communities of color, and law enforcement. The United States has a long history of structural racism and inequity that has borne a significant level of distrust. Additionally, immigrants’ interactions with law enforcement may be overshadowed by experiences with policing in their home country or complicated by language barriers.
Sadly, this distrust and lack of understanding and empathy on all sides can make communities, and in particular domestic violence survivors, less safe.
For law enforcement, they may not just be concerned about the danger of the specific call to which they are responding, but also how an entire neighborhood may react to their presence. For survivors, they may not only be concerned about their interaction with the police, but how their neighbors and community members will react to their involvement with police.
It is our ability to connect, listen, and grow with one another that will help to overcome many of these challenges. It is CCADV’s hope that CT LAP can serve as one part of the bridge needed to make survivors and communities safer.
“The CT LAP screening helped me uncover all the secrets I have been hiding all these years.”
These officers changed my outlook. While one officer played with my daughter, I was able to take the time and answer the LAP questions with another officer.