In 2002, the Violence and Injury Prevention Program (VIPP) established the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee (DVFRC). The DVFRC started with a grant from the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice. The VIPP collects and analyzes data and provides staff support to the DVFRC.
The goals of the DVFRC are to:
Identify and review all adult DV-related homicides in Utah.
Initiate a process for developing protocols and agreements to improve agency response and/or interventions for victims and suspects of domestic violence.
Cultivate discussion and action to establish a unified multi-agency approach to domestic violence.
Reduce the rate of DV-related deaths in Utah.
Facilitate and improve communication among agencies that respond to victims and/or perpetrators of domestic violence.
The DVFRC is a multi-disciplinary team that reviews all adult homicides perpetrated by an intimate partner, former intimate partner or stalker, or any other death that occurred in the context of a domestic dispute (e.g., bystander, police officer shooting, etc.).
There is approximately one DV-related homicide each month in Utah.
One out of three adult homicides are domestic violence homicides.
A total of 147 children were directly exposed to an IP homicide; 78 percent were under six years of age.
Forty-four percent were spouses, 7.6 percent were ex-spouses, 21.2 percent were girlfriends or boyfriends, and 12.1 percent
were ex-girlfriends or ex-boyfriends.
