BILL NUMBER: S2280B
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:
Requires a lethality assessment in incidents of domestic violence
 
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, 2027, 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. By January 1, 2028, this
training must be completed by all current law enforcement officers and
incorporated into the training requirements for new recruits. This
section sets forth guidelines on the administration of a lethality
assessment as well as directs the sharing of domestic violence assist-
ance 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.
 
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
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
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
S2280B: 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