Golden Sun eXtra Your Local News Source, Mohave County, AZ

In just the past three days, 15 people have been arrested trying to strangle their victims during domestic violence disputes. A new law makes strangulation during domestic violence a felony and it is helping victims escape their attackers.

Since the start of the new law back in July, Metro has arrested more than 500 people for trying to strangle someone during a domestic dispute.

Because abusers who use strangulation can eventually kill their victim, police are pushing for a statewide protocol when dealing with domestic violence, including a 11 step survey for the victims called a Lethality Assessment.

"We firmly believe the only way we are going to have a significant impact on reducing domestic violence and all other crimes associated is by having a statewide consistent initiative," said Metro Capt. Vincent Cannito.

Metro began using the assessments about a month after the strangulation law went into effect. The assessments allow officers to look deeper into the violence and see if a victim is in high-risk of being abused again. The assessment also comes with follow-up calls from advocate programs who offer help to those willing to take it.

The City of Reno has agreed to begin using the assessment technique and the hope is all law enforcement will be using the same program.

SOCIAL BOOKMARK IT! Backflip BlinkBits Blinklist blogmarks del.icio.us digg Furl Raw Sugar reddit Shadows Simpy Spurl Technorati Yahoo My Web More... | WHAT IS THIS?

SOCIAL BOOKMARK IT!
Backflip BlinkBits Blinklist blogmarks del.icio.us digg Furl Raw Sugar reddit Shadows Simpy Spurl Technorati Yahoo My Web More... | WHAT IS THIS?