BILL NUMBER: S2280A
SPONSOR: WEBB
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the executive law and the general business law, in
relation to requiring a lethality assessment in incidents of domestic
violence
 
PURPOSE: n/a
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends subdivision 3 of section 646 of the Executive law to
require domestic incident reports include lethality assessment questions
with regard to domestic or intimate partner violence cases.
Section 2 amends subdivision 15 of section 837 of the Executive law to
include a lethality assessment and provides that by January 1, 2025 the
Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) along with the Office for
the Prevention of Domestic Violence (OPDV) shall update the domestic
incident report forms and develop training of the administration of
lethality assessments for law enforcement. This section sets forth
guidelines on the administration of a lethality assessment as well as
directs the sharing of domestic violence assistance information to
victims.
Section 3 updates language in section 214 of the Executive law.
Section 4 updates language in section 840 of the Executive law.
Section 5 updates language in section 654-a of the General Business law.
Section. 6 is the effective date.
 
EXISTING LAW:
n/a
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Lethality assessments are a useful tool for law enforcement when
responding to a domestic dispute. Studies have shown that the combina-
tion of questioning of victims while immediately providing resources for
victims is a powerful tool in reducing deadly outcomes for victims. This
"collaborative police and social service intervention" has its roots in
Maryland, but other states including Utah and Florida have recently
codified lethality assessments into law to ensure all police departments
are able to utilize this tool aimed at fully assessing a domestic situ-
ation.
Through the lethality assessment and resource sharing, law enforcement
empowers victims with information, potentially saving their lives. A
recent study indicated that the use of lethality assessments reduces
female homicide by men by almost 40%.
This legislation will codify uniform lethality assessment requirements
into law to provide consistency across the state in the application and
reporting of facts during a domestic dispute. This also requires law
enforcement to receive training on the use of assessments. Addi-
tionally, this information is required to be included in Domestic Inci-
dent Reports (DIR). Many communities across New York have adopted the
use of lethality assessments including Broome, Dutchess and Westchester
Counties. Uniform training and support from DCJS and OPDV along with
uniform reporting can protect victims as well as law enforcement in
cases where there are repeated calls for intervention.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Minimal administrative costs
 
LOCAL FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
n/a
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

Statutes affected:
S2280: 646 executive law, 646(3) executive law, 214-b executive law, 840 executive law, 840(3) executive law, 654-a general business law, 654-a(2) general business law
S2280A: 646 executive law, 646(3) executive law, 214-b executive law, 840 executive law, 840(3) executive law, 654-a general business law, 654-a(2) general business law