Attorney General’s Office releases first annual report Of Colorado Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board

Feb. 28, 2019 (DENVER, Colo.) —Thirty-nine individuals were killed in Colorado in 2017 as a result of domestic violence, according to a new report from the Colorado Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board issued by the Colorado Office of the Attorney General.

The Colorado Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board is charged by the Colorado state legislature with examining data on domestic violence fatalities to identify ways to prevent these tragedies and to make policy recommendations to the legislature.

“Too many families in our state have faced the unthinkable tragedy of losing a loved one to domestic violence, which not only impacts their family and friends, but devastates entire communities. The board will help us understand the root causes of domestic violence, enabling us to protect victims of abuse and prevent fatalities and near-death incidents from occurring in the future,” said Attorney General Phil Weiser.

The review board was established in 2017 with experts from various fields that interact with victims and perpetrators of domestic violence.

In addition to reviewing data collected and analyzed with regard to domestic violence fatalities in Colorado, the review board focused on preparing the Local Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team Packet to assist local review team efforts, building on work done by the Denver Metro Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee for the past 20 years.

The goal of the domestic violence fatality review process is to better understand the dynamics when a fatality occurs in order to help prevent future tragedies of intimate partner violence. The findings can be integrated into training of professionals and utilized to improve practices and to determine what policies may be needed to further help prevent domestic violence.

Specific findings from the report include:

• Of the domestic violence victims killed in 2017, the youngest was 17 and the oldest 55, with an average age of 32.
• Of the domestic violence perpetrators killed, the youngest was 19 and the oldest 60, with an average age of 29.
• The four top red flags for the domestic violence fatalities in 2017 were:
  • In all cases the perpetrator had a history of domestic violence;
  • More than 80% of the perpetrators were underemployed or unemployed;
  • More than 80% of the perpetrators exhibited possessiveness of their victims; and,
  • More than 70% of the perpetrators stalked or monitored their victims.

The full report, including policy recommendations, is available here.

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CONTACT
Lawrence Pacheco, Director of Communications
(720) 508-6553 office | (720) 245-4689 cell
Email: Lawrence.pacheco@coag.gov