I've lived in Coatesville, in Chester County PA, Philadelphia, Macungie, in Lehigh County, Trappe & Lower Frederick Twp in Montgomery County. And back to Coatesville PA where I was born & raised.The City of Coatesville Police Department is about as good as a police department can be. - James Pitcherella.
For the first 15 years that Rodger Ollis worked as a police officer, he walked away from a lot of domestic abuse calls wondering if he had done enough.
He wondered if he’d be back to the same home in a few days or hours.
Sometimes it was the victim who called police, other times a neighbor. Responding to these calls often put officers in the middle of volatile situations, with plenty of yelling and crying.
Sometimes there wasn’t enough evidence to arrest a suspected abuser. The criminal code, Ollis likes to say, is really good at handling a punch. But other types of abuse — emotional, financial — are harder to see and don’t always rise to a criminal level.
And even if he did arrest someone, Ollis said he didn’t know if the victim would reach out to a domestic violence program for help, if they would have the support to leave a relationship and move on with their life.
Then, about seven years ago, he learned how to use a new tool — The Lethality Assessment Program.
There’s a lot of research behind it, but the sheet that Ollis and his fellow officers use to apply it to a domestic violence situation is short — just one page with 11 questions, plus space for victims to describe any other safety worries.
Ollis said the tool takes about five to 10 minutes to go through at the scene. And he said the process makes a big difference.
“It was the first time that I ever had an opportunity to prevent a homicide as opposed to just giving the victim a pamphlet,” said Ollis, a sergeant with the Coatesville Police Department in western Chester County.
Since the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence launched the Lethality Assessment Program in 2012, the group says it has helped suspected abuse victims speak with a domestic violence advocate or obtain other help more than 10,000 times.
Those advocates then help victims create safety plans, find emergency shelter, apply for protective orders, receive counseling and more.
Lois Fasnacht, a training specialist with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said police and advocates give a warning to people flagged by the assessment as being at a high risk of violence at the hands of their abuser.
“They are told people in your situation have been killed. …Nobody’s probably ever said that to a victim,” Fasnacht said."
Nearly every police department in Chester County uses the screening tool. The program has expanded each year since 2012 and is now used in 49 out of 67 counties and by more than 360 police departments. Several rural counties, including Potter and Elk in north central Pennsylvania, added the program last year.
Coatesville joined an early pilot program in 2012. Police officers use the screening tool for intimate partners or former intimate partners
The department receives around 850 domestic disturbance calls a year, Ollis said. The lethality assessment tool is used in about 10 percent of those cases.
Officers will use the tool if they see signs of an assault, find that a protective order has been violated, in cases of stalking and harassment, or similar situations, Ollis said.
If someone answers yes to any of the first three questions, the police automatically flag them as being in high danger. Those questions are:
- Have they [the alleged abuser] ever used a weapon against you or threatened you with a weapon?
- Have they threatened to kill you or your children?
- Do you think they might try to kill you?
If someone answers yes to any of the first three questions, the police automatically flag them as being in high danger. Those questions are:
Have they [the alleged abuser] ever used a weapon against you or threatened you with a weapon?
Have they threatened to kill you or your children?
Do you think they might try to kill you?
If the victim answers “yes” to at least four of the remaining 11 questions, the victim is also considered to be at high risk.
- Do they [the abuser] have a gun or can they easily get one?
- Have they ever tried to choke you?
- Are they violently or constantly jealous or do they control most of your daily activities?
- Have you left them or separated after living together or being married?
- Is the abuser unemployed?
- Has the abuser ever tried to kill themself?
- Do you have a child that they know is not theirs?
- Do they follow or spy on you or leave threatening messages?
(The assessment includes he/she/they versions of each question.)
There are two additional questions that give suspected victims the opportunity to add anything else that worries them. Even if victims respond with a “no” to all the questions, officers could decide they are in a potentially lethal situation and decide to flag them as being at high risk.
“I tell officers that there’s no harm in calling [the hotline]. There could be harm in not. So trust their gut,” Ollis said.
Once police call the hotline, it’s up to the victims whether or not they want to speak to an advocate.
Ashley Folchman, coordinator of the Lethality Assessment Program for the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County, said an officer’s involvement can help break through a barrier for victims.
“For a lot of victims, they might have thought about leaving the relationship prior to that 911 call. For that victim, they might have looked up the (domestic violence) center on their own but been too afraid to call,” she said.
During the most recent fiscal year, police in Chester County screened people 425 times with the assessment. They flagged someone as being in high danger 244 times, and those high-risk victims spoke with a hotline representative 126 times.
Coatesville, a city of 13,000 with about 35 police officers, used the screening questions more often than any other agency in the county.
The program doesn’t focus on rehabilitating or punishing the alleged abusers. Instead, it focuses on ways to keep victims safe and to help them move on from a dangerous relationship. Ollis said the quick pass off to an advocate can help get at root problems, whereas simply arresting the abuser often may not.
“In many cases there are arrests. But arrests are a result. It’s not necessarily the answer,” Ollis said.
He said victims need to be empowered, cared for and counseled as “part of the process of making them whole again.”
In Coatesville, officers sometimes use a victim’s cell phone to make a call — and then encourage them to delete the call history, in case their abuser later looks at the call log.
The idea of using a victim’s cell phone is one that Fascnacht was initially reluctant to embrace. She and others with the coalition had concerns about an abuser finding out about the call.
But after watching that approach in practice, she changed her mind.
Victims told advocates that since the police were already involved in the situation, abusers were already mad. Calling a hotline seemed unlikely to make the abuser significantly angrier, she said.
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The program connects high-risk victims with an advocate.
December 12, 2019 | 5:00 AM Ed Mahon/PA Post
“Every community wants to know that individuals will be treated fairly by officers, without incident,” said Laufer. “We take that responsibility to heart and are taking the initiative to build relationships and provide thorough and constant education and training for our officers.'
Each year, all officers participate in two days of continuing education through Act 180 re-certification provided by the Municipal Police Officer’s Education and Training Commission, which provides legal updates and instruction that focuses on issues at the forefront of policing.
Also, in October, all police supervisors — including five corporals, three sergeants, a lieutenant, and the Chief — participated in a one-day class at the state-of-the-art Chester County Public Safety Training Campus, located in South Coatesville. Taught by retired Delaware State Police Captain Dr. Greg Warren, the program focused on advanced law enforcement ethics, conflict management, de-escalation techniques, and implicit bias — messages that the supervisors can now share with officers under their command.
Four supervising officers have completed the intensive three-week Leadership Development Program, which Chief Laufer helped create and taught at the State Police Academy in Hershey prior to his retirement from the state police. In November, Chief Laufer completed the four-day “Train the Trainer” certification course taught by the Dolan Consulting Group to enable him to present de-escalation techniques training. Over the next three months, he intends to teach the techniques to the entire staff of 29 full-time Coatesville officers and about a dozen part-time officers.
The department has also partnered with the city in numerous initiatives to strengthen relations with residents. In June, Chief Laufer partnered with members of the Coatesville City Council and City Manager James Logan to greet and converse with concerned residents and individuals who participated in a peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration. This summer, Chief Laufer partnered with Coatesville City Council member Nydea Graves and Logan to kick off “Real Steel Talk,” a forum created to bring together voices of the community to city leaders.
'We pride ourselves on being champions of the community … partnering rather than policing,” said Laufer. “Every officer is expected to be the face of our department. While five officers, three receptionists, and three administrative staff are graduates of Coatesville High School, we want to make sure that every member of the department knows and understands what makes the city and people of Coatesville great.'
Over the last four years, 'Coffee with the Chief' has enabled community members to join Laufer to discuss issues important to them at different business locations throughout the city on the first Wednesday of every month. Although the popular program has been temporarily suspended due to COVID-19, in an effort to maintain engagement, Chester County District Attorney Deb Ryan introduced a pilot program to identify some of the sensitive issues with residents and the police department. In a roundtable format, the district attorney’s office brought together five police department members and five community members with a facilitator to take a deeper dive in identifying prominent subjects for discussion.
'It’s a tall order for officers to be able to recognize the nuances inherent with a diverse community,' said Carmen Green, Coatesville City Council Vice President. 'Officers must have the tools and skill sets to be able to interpret and address a variety of situations. Chief Laufer’s proactive approach assures our residents are being heard and officers are receiving the necessary training. He and the officers have a deep commitment to do the right thing all the time. That builds the trust, cooperation, and strong relationships that we all hope to achieve.'
'As we listen to concerns voiced in cities across the country and in our own neighborhood, we want to assure residents that we are listening,' said Logan. 'We understand the value of training, education, and outreach and recognize that there is room for improvement for our city and police department. Our residents and officers must learn to coexist, and in order to do that, we must lead with mutual respect for one another. We are committed to measure progress and modify programs to sustain our efforts. It is this kind of collaboration that will keep Coatesville at the forefront of change and retain the true meaning of community engagement.”
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VISTA TODAY
Published: 5:25 am EST December 1, 2020 Updated: 11:05 am EST November 30, 2020
