A 4899: Requires law enforcement officers to conduct a lethality assessment as part of the standardized domestic incident report form when responding to incidents of domestic violence.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4899 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 10, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. CLARK, McMAHON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Operations AN ACT to amend the executive law and the general business law, in relation to requiring a lethality assessment in incidents of domestic violence The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 646 of the executive law, as added 2 by chapter 152 of the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows: 3 3. An individual who has been the victim in this state of a family 4 offense as defined in subdivision one of section 530.11 of the criminal 5 procedure law or section eight hundred twelve of the family court act 6 may, upon alleging that it would be a hardship for [him or her] such 7 individual to make such complaint in the local jurisdiction in which 8 such offense occurred, make a complaint to any local law enforcement 9 agency in the state regardless of where the act took place. Such local 10 law enforcement agency shall take a police report of the matter, as well 11 as prepare a domestic [violence] incident report which includes lethali- 12 ty assessment questions as defined in subdivision fifteen of section 13 eight hundred thirty-seven of this chapter and provide the complainant 14 with a copy of such report free of charge. A copy of the police report 15 and completed domestic [violence] incident report, including the lethal- 16 ity assessment questions shall be promptly forwarded to the appropriate 17 law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the location where the 18 incident is reported to have occurred for the purposes of further inves- 19 tigation. 20 § 2. Subdivision 15 of section 837 of the executive law, as added by 21 chapter 222 of the laws of 1994 and the opening paragraph as amended by 22 chapter 432 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows: 23 15. Promulgate, in consultation with the superintendent of state 24 police and the state office for the prevention of domestic violence, and EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03826-01-5 
 A. 4899 2 1 in accordance with paragraph (f) of subdivision three of section eight 2 hundred forty of this article, a standardized "domestic [violence] inci- 3 dent report form" for use by state and local law enforcement agencies in 4 the reporting, recording and investigation of all alleged incidents of 5 domestic violence, regardless of whether an arrest is made as a result 6 of such investigation. Such form shall be prepared in multiple parts, 7 one of which shall be immediately provided to the victim, and shall 8 include designated spaces for: the recordation of the results of the 9 investigation by the law enforcement agency and the basis for any action 10 taken; the recordation of a victim's allegations of domestic violence; 11 the age and gender of the victim and the alleged offender or offenders; 12 and immediately thereunder a space on which the victim may sign and 13 verify such victim's allegations. Such form shall also include, but not 14 be limited to spaces to identify: 15 (a) what other services or agencies, including but not limited to 16 medical, shelter, advocacy and other supportive services are or have 17 previously been involved with the victim; [and] 18 (b) whether the victim has been provided with the written notice 19 described in subdivision five of section eight hundred twelve of the 20 family court act and subdivision six of section 530.11 of the criminal 21 procedure law[.]; and 22 (c) the results of a lethality assessment. By January first, two thou- 23 sand twenty-six, the division, in consultation with the New York state 24 office for the prevention of domestic violence and stakeholders, shall 25 update the domestic incident report form and develop training for law 26 enforcement. Training on how to administer such assessment shall be 27 delivered by the office for the prevention of domestic violence. All law 28 enforcement officers shall successfully complete such training by Janu- 29 ary first, two thousand twenty-seven. Beginning January first, two thou- 30 sand twenty-seven, such training shall be incorporated into any training 31 requirements for new law enforcement officers. 32 (i) To administer the lethality assessment questions, a law enforce- 33 ment officer shall ask the victim, in the same or similar wording and in 34 the same order, all of the following questions; provided, however, the 35 division, in consultation with the office for the prevention of domestic 36 violence, shall have the authority to issue guidance to amend, supple- 37 ment, or remove any of such questions: 38 (1) Have they ever used a weapon against you or threatened you with a 39 weapon? 40 (2) Did they ever threaten to kill you, your children, or your pets? 41 (3) Do you believe they will try to kill you or have they tried to 42 kill you? 43 (4) Have they ever strangled or choked you or attempted to strangle or 44 choke you? 45 (5) Do they have a firearm or could they get one easily? 46 (6) Are they violently or constantly jealous, or do they control most 47 of your daily activities? 48 (7) Have you left them or separated from them after living together or 49 being married? 50 (8) Are they unemployed? 51 (9) Have they ever tried to kill themselves? 52 (10) Do you have a child whom they believe is not their biological 53 child? 54 (11) Do they follow, spy on, or send threatening messages to you? 55 (12) Is there anything else that worries you about your safety and, if 56 so, what worries you? 
 A. 4899 3 1 (13) Any other questions the division, in consultation with the office 2 for the prevention of domestic violence, shall deem necessary. 3 (ii) A law enforcement officer shall advise the victim of the results 4 of the assessment and refer the victim to the local domestic violence 5 program and provide the number of the New York state domestic and sexual 6 violence hotline. The law enforcement officer shall follow all 7 directions on the domestic incident report regarding scoring responses 8 and referrals based on such scoring, including sharing a copy of the 9 report with the local domestic violence program and any applicable high 10 risk teams. If the law enforcement officer determines the information 11 collected in response to such questions establishes credible information 12 that an individual is likely to engage in conduct that would result in 13 serious harm to such individual or others, as defined in paragraph one 14 or two of subdivision (a) of section 9.39 of the mental hygiene law, the 15 office shall file an application for an extreme risk protection order 16 in accordance with section sixty-three hundred forty-one of the civil 17 practice law and rules. 18 (iii) If the victim does not, or is unable to, provide information to 19 a law enforcement officer sufficient to allow the law enforcement offi- 20 cer to administer a lethality assessment, the law enforcement officer 21 shall note the lack of a lethality assessment in a written police report 22 and attempt to refer the victim to the nearest certified domestic 23 violence program or the New York state domestic and sexual violence 24 hotline. 25 § 3. Subdivision (a) of section 214-b of the executive law, as amended 26 by chapter 432 of the laws of 2015, is amended to read as follows: 27 (a) intake and recording of victim statements, and the prompt trans- 28 lation of such statements if made in a language other than English, in 29 accordance with subdivision (c) of this section, on a standardized 30 "domestic [violence] incident report form" promulgated by the state 31 division of criminal justice services in consultation with the super- 32 intendent and with the state office for the prevention of domestic 33 violence, and the investigation thereof so as to ascertain whether a 34 crime has been committed against the victim by a member of the victim's 35 family or household as such terms are defined in section eight hundred 36 twelve of the family court act and section 530.11 of the criminal proce- 37 dure law; 38 § 4. Subparagraph 1 of paragraph (f) of subdivision 3 of section 840 39 of the executive law, as amended by chapter 432 of the laws of 2015, is 40 amended to read as follows: 41 (1) intake and recording of victim statements, and the prompt trans- 42 lation of such statements if made in a language other than English, in 43 accordance with subparagraph three of this paragraph, on a standardized 44 "domestic [violence] incident report form" promulgated by the division 45 of criminal justice services in consultation with the superintendent of 46 state police, representatives of local police forces and the state 47 office for the prevention of domestic violence, and the investigation 48 thereof so as to ascertain whether a crime has been committed against 49 the victim by a member of the victim's family or household as such terms 50 are defined in section eight hundred twelve of the family court act and 51 section 530.11 of the criminal procedure law; and 52 § 5. Subparagraph 5 of paragraph a of subdivision 2 of section 654-a 53 of the general business law, as amended by chapter 17 of the laws of 54 2013, is amended to read as follows: 55 (5) the purchaser of a contract signed by more than one purchaser 56 provides to the operator a copy of any of the following, within six 
 A. 4899 4 1 months of its issuance, involving domestic violence by another signatory 2 of the same contract: (A) a valid domestic [violence] incident report 3 form as such term is defined in subdivision fifteen of section eight 4 hundred thirty-seven of the executive law; (B) a valid police report; 5 (C) a valid order of protection; or (D) a signed affidavit from a 6 licensed medical or mental health care provider, employee of a court 7 acting within the scope of [his or her] such individual's employment, 8 social worker, a rape crisis counselor as defined in section forty-five 9 hundred ten of the civil practice law and rules, or advocate acting on 10 behalf of an agency that assists domestic violence victims. Paragraph d 11 of this subdivision shall not apply to a purchaser canceling under this 12 subparagraph. A claim for termination under this subparagraph shall be 13 made in good faith. Termination under this subparagraph shall require, 14 and the provision of any of the items in (A) through (D) of this subpar- 15 agraph, for the purposes of this subparagraph, shall be presumptive 16 evidence of the continued existence of a substantial risk of physical or 17 emotional harm to the purchaser or purchaser's child. 18 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.