Marin law enforcement forum addresses strangulation

Marin law enforcement officers have a new tool to help guide domestic violence investigations involving strangulation.

Marin County District Attorney Lori Frugoli announced the launch of a “pocket card” for law enforcement officers to carry when they interview domestic violence victims. The cards provide information to aid in determining whether a person was strangled and, if so, how to handle the inquiry.

“This is really an important tool for officers when they’re out in the field, and it’s an educational tool as well for us,” Frugoli said.

Frugoli spoke at a meeting for the county’s Coordinated Community Response to Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Network. The Center for Domestic Peace, a San Rafael organization that assists domestic violence victims in Marin County, organized the webinar, which was held Wednesday.

Law enforcement and health care professionals at the meeting sounded an alarm about domestic violence strangulation cases.

“We know that with strangulation, the next step is homicide,” said Kari Cordero, a forensic examiner and the executive director of SANE-SART, or the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner-Sexual Assault Response Team.

She noted a Novato case in which a strangulation victim fled from an offender’s home and contacted officers, who got her medical attention.

“Truly, this woman is lucky to be alive because I think she was seconds from death,” Cordero said.

Kate Kain, deputy executive director of the Center for Domestic Peace, said fatal strangulation can happen within 167 seconds.

“We as a whole community need to understand the effects of choking and strangulation, and need to move quickly when we hear these things referenced by our sons, daughters, friends, relatives, clients,” she said.

“If it is not actually fatal when it has occurred, then we need to quickly help victims get medical attention because if it hasn’t actually ended the victim’s life at the moment, it can end over time from the internal damages,” Kain said. “And there is something everyone can do about it.”

The center has seen more than 150 strangulation victims in the past three years.

Kain said the new pocket cards advise officers who investigate domestic violence cases to request forensic nurses to examine the victims. She said the victims can then undergo scans for internal injuries. All of the victim’s medical information would then be added to the police report submitted to prosecutors, Kain said.

“We have been learning over the past 10 years about the frequency and dangers of strangulation, and with the ability to get a DV forensic exam through police reports we are hopeful lives will be saved and abusers held accountable,” she said, referring to domestic violence.

Novato police Capt. Sasha D’Amico described how police procedures have changed in addressing strangulation cases.

“In the past, it was not a routine part of domestic violence investigations to ask specifically about whether the victim was strangled,” she said. “Increased awareness and training of Marin County law enforcement officers have added more detailed and comprehensive interviews and reports. Victims disclose strangulation because we ask about it.”

D’Amico said nearly 90% of strangulation survivors had prior reported domestic violence history. She added that after a strangulation occurs, the offender is seven to 10 times more likely to kill the victim.

More information is at CenterForDomesticPeace.org.