Strangulations overwhelm Milwaukee domestic violence high risk team (Part 2)

Police are using an outdated survey aimed at preventing domestic violence homicides. Fox 6 investigator Brian Poulsen finds they're doing so on purpose. He joins us in the studio with details. What do you got, Brian? Ted and Mary, when Milwaukee police are sent on a domestic violence call, they're trained to ask 11 questions to measure the victim's risk of being killed by their intimate partner. But our investigation finds police agencies in Milwaukee County are using an old version of that survey. And one expert says that could mean they are undervaluing. One of the biggest red flags for homicide, strangulation. Tamika Stewart got a restraining order against her husband, and two months later, prosecutors say he stabbed her 49 times. Nobody deserves to die like that. Gerard Stewart was already out on bail, accused of strangling her. Violence doesn't stop on its own. It needs an interruption. Carmen Petrie is executive director of Sojourner Family Peace Center, home to Milwaukee County's domestic violence high-risk team. The only job of that group is to prevent a homicide from happening. She can't say if the high-risk team worked Tamika's case, but of the more than 10,000 cases the team has reviewed since 2019, just six have ended in homicide, a track record. We think it's demonstration that this team is doing good work. The team's coordinator, Michelle Coppin, says how they choose which cases to review is still evolving. The science and data around what makes a case high-risk is probably the biggest development that I've experienced in my career. When police are called to a domestic violence, violence incident, they're now trained to ask the victim 11 specific questions like has he ever used a weapon? Has he threatened to kill you? Is he unemployed? Some of it is more likely to lead to lethality than other types. Developed by the University of Maryland 20 years ago, the Lethality Assessment Program, or LAP, measures a victim's risk of being killed. There are no questions about punching, slapping, shoving, or kicking, but there is one that asks, has he ever tried? to choke you. Why is that question so important? Strangulation is a significant factor in red flag for homicide. Each question in the LAP is weighted and scored. The higher the score, the higher the risk. But if strangulation is one of the top predictors of a domestic violence homicide, why does it only count as one point? So I don't know what they use in Milwaukee, but in the LAP today, strangulation is actually three points. Casey Gwynn ought to know. The LAP, by the way, missed strangulation early on. He trains first responders across the country on strangulation prevention. They may be using an old version of the LAP. Published in 2021 and validated in 2024, the so-called LAP 2.0 increased the value of strangulation as a homicide predictor. In the LAP today, strangulation is actually three points. It also made the strangulation question one of three for which a yes answer automatically triggers a high-danger assessment. So, why is Milwaukee still using the old one? You might want to find out. In an email to the Fox 6 investigators, Coppins writes, quote, a collaborative decision was made in 2024 not to transition to LAP 2.0 because of the program's myriad of requirements. But that's not the only reason. How many cases can they review? There's so many strangulations. Last year alone, the Milwaukee County DA's office charged 347 people with strangulation and suffocation. The unfortunate reality and... Frankly, there are simply too many strangulation cases. Erin Schubert tracks data for the high-risk teen, and she says the number is even bigger than that, since 54% of all victims say they've been strangled at some point. If we were to look at every single case that we see, well over half of them have had strangulation in their relationship with their current partner. Coppins writes, if nearly every case is high-risk, then none of them are. Instead, they focus only on the most severe strangulation cases, those that leave a victim unconscious. So the degree of strangulation helps you determine just how high risk. That is correct. Really says something about how common and how prevalent this is. Yeah, unfortunately so. I get why we have to create standards, because resources in Milwaukee and in this country have been going down, down, down. Gwen acknowledges funding is a concern, but says that doesn't change what's at stake. What do you want to see change? I would say two things. One, a system that flags these women along with stricter punishment for strangulation. And a recognition that women who are strangled may be in grave danger. Both the strangulation and homicide cases against Gerard Stewart remain open nearly three years now after his arrest. He is in custody and scheduled for trial in January. Meanwhile, the coordinator of the domestic violence high-risk team says that instead of moving to lap 2.0, they are now exploring whether a new lethality assessment tool could be developed that is specific to the needs of Milwaukee County. She says they are working with the Medical College of Wisconsin on that project. Now, if you are in need of domestic violence crisis services, you can call Sojourner. They have a 24-hour hotline. Those are the numbers on your screen. You can call the first one, 414-933-2722, or you can send a text to 414-877-8100. A reminder that all calls are confidential. Ted and Mary. So eye-opening on so many levels. Brian Polson, thank you.