Domestic violence homicides are one of the most predictable, therefore preventable, types of crime. It is very important for professionals and for clients to determine whether or not their case poses a serious risk to their safety. Research shows that their are certain behaviors which can indicate the level of dangerousness in a case. Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN, FAAN has led the field in this area of research. Some of the factors that indicate High Risk Cases include the following:

• History of domestic violence
• Increased severity or frequency of violence
• Strangulation
• Threats to kill the victim or children
• Threats or use of a weapon
• Stalking behaviors
• Unemployment of abusive party
• Victim believes abusive party is capable of killing them
• Recent separation of parties
• Abusive party controls much of victim's daily activities

If you think your case may be a high risk case, you should contact your local domestic violence agency to speak with an advocate. If you are in immediate danger, please call 911.

Using GPS in Domestic Violence Cases

Massachusetts is in the forefront of using GPS technology to contain and monitor dangerous domestic violence offenders. For more information on the recent developments, click here. 

The Greater Newburyport High Risk Team has been cited as a model program for responding to High Risk cases. The team uses a multidisciplinary approach to identify and intervene in high risk cases. Partners in the team include law enforcement, probation, victim services, batterer's intervention program and the hospital. The team recently published its three year report in which 80% of the offenders were incarcerated and 20% received some form of GPS monitoring. To date, there have been no violations of the GPS cases.