455.543. Homicides or suicides, determination of domestic violence, factors to be considered — reports made to highway patrol, forms.
Police must check if a homicide or suicide is related to domestic violence
When law enforcement investigates a homicide or suicide, they must decide if it was linked to domestic violence and report the findings to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
1. Law enforcement agencies must determine whether any homicide or suicide they investigate is related to domestic violence.
2. To make that decision, police can consider:
- If the victim and perpetrator were family or household members
- If either person had filed for an order of protection
- If anyone involved had a history of domestic violence investigations
- Any other helpful evidence from the incident
3. Once a determination is made, police must report the following to the Missouri State Highway Patrol using an approved form:
- Victim’s gender and age
- Type of incident (homicide or suicide)
- Outcome of the incident
- Relationship between victim and perpetrator
The Highway Patrol created a special form for this, which was given to all law enforcement agencies by October 1, 2000.
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