Florida passes Gabby Petito-inspired domestic violence protocols for law enforcement
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida lawmakers want to ensure officers are asking the right questions when responding to domestic violence calls to better assess the level of danger and help victims whose lives may be at risk.
A new bill passed by the House and Senate, and advocated for by Joseph Petito, Gabby Petito’s father, creates a set of 12 mandatory questions law enforcement will have to ask a potential victim when responding to a domestic violence call.
READ: 'Gabby Petito Act' filed in Florida Senate to protect domestic violence victims
Senate Bill 1224 includes widespread reforms designed to help children and victims of crime, as well as lethality assessment protocols. Those protocols are already in use in 32 other states.
Screengrabs from police bodycam in Moab, Utah, on Aug. 12, 2021, show the couple following a domestic violence call. (Moab PD)
The mandatory set of 12 questions includes:
- Did the aggressor ever use a weapon against you or threaten you with a weapon?
- Did the aggressor ever threaten to kill you or your children?
- Do you believe the aggressor will try to kill you?
- Has the aggressor ever choked you or attempted to choke you?
- Does the aggressor have a gun or could the aggressor easily obtain a gun?
- Is the aggressor violently or constantly jealous, or does the aggressor control most of your daily activities?
- Did you leave or separate from the aggressor after you were living together or married?
- Is the aggressor unemployed?
- To the best of your knowledge, has the aggressor ever attempted suicide?
- Do you have a child whom the aggressor believes is not the aggressor’s biological child?
- Has the aggressor ever followed, spied on, or left threatening messages for you?
- Is there anything else that worries you about your safety and, if so, what worries you?
Law enforcement will be required to advise victims of the results of the assessment and refer them to the nearest certified domestic violence shelter should they answer ‘yes’ to any of the first four questions, or at least four of questions 5-11, or as a result of their answer to question 12.
Regardless of whether an arrest is made, an officer will be required to make a written police report that clearly indicates the alleged offense was an incident of domestic violence.
The report must be given to the officer’s supervisor and filed with the law enforcement agency in a manner that will permit data on domestic violence cases to be compiled.
In January, Joseph Petito appeared before the Florida Senate Committee on criminal justice to advocate for the new rules. Petito told senators the assessment program will help save lives, especially in situations similar to Gabby’s where a victim may not fully appreciate or be willing to admit the danger they’re facing.
"It’s to make sure people know where to go when these questions are asked," Petito explained. "They can answer ‘no’ to all the questions, but an officer’s intuition might tell them they’re still in a bad situation and say, ‘let me get this advocate on the line.’ Most people don’t know where to go when it comes to services and what services they have at their disposal. Not everybody needs a shelter. Not everybody needs financial guidance or a pro bono lawyer, but they do need to know how to get out of a situation safely."
In August 2021, officers in Utah responded to a domestic violence call involving Gabby and fiancé Brian Laundrie while the two were traveling in Moab.
Gabby Petito family files lawsuit against Moab police
Attorneys for Gabby Petito's family make explosive new claims in a lawsuit against Moab, Utah Police Department. The suit, officially filed Thursday, said one of the officers who responded to a reported fight between the Petito and Brian Laundrie was 'unfit and unsafe' to be a police officer.
Body camera video from responding officers shows an extremely distressed Gabby downplaying Brian’s role in an argument where several witnesses reported seeing Brian slapping and grabbing her violently enough to prompt calls to 911.
Both Brian and Gabby told officers they’d been involved in a heated argument in which Gabby had hit Brian. Gabby reported Brian had grabbed her face. Despite her visible injuries, officers told Gabby and Brian she was the aggressor, and the pair were advised to separate for the night.
Two weeks later, Brian strangled Gabby to death.
Gabby’s parents have since sued the Moab Police Department for neglecting the signs of domestic violence and failing to properly investigate the incident.
Last year, the state of Utah adopted the same lethality threat assessment program Florida lawmakers passed this week.