Software Assesses Likelihood of Violence in Home

The battle against domestic violence will go high-tech today in Carson, as the sheriff’s station there becomes the first in law enforcement nationwide to try out a new computer program to assess how dangerous a domestic abuser is to his household.

The program is the brainchild of Gavin de Becker, 42, a nationally recognized violence-prediction expert and master of computer programs that analyze threats to public figures from obsessed fans and sworn enemies. His programs are used by the U.S. marshal’s office, California Highway Patrol, CIA and U.S. Supreme Court Police to protect such figures as the governor, legislators and justices.

But de Becker’s latest program brings his computer talents closer to home.

Authorities will ask domestic violence victims 48 questions, such as “Does he own a gun?” and “Are there children in the home?” The answers will be fed into a database, which will compare the batterer to more than 4,000 abusers whose actions escalated to homicide, and then print a report rating the level of danger.

Depending on the level it finds, the program also recommends steps for authorities to take, such as referring the case to the Department of Children and Family Services or recommending a battered-women’s shelter.

“We are very excited about using this program,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Sue Tyler, adding that the department responded to nearly 15,000 domestic violence calls in 1995. “The courts can’t fight domestic violence alone and neither can law enforcement. Now we will have another tool to help with a team effort.”

In addition to the county Sheriff’s Department, the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood Division also has been trained to test the program and is scheduled to begin using it within the next month.

The program, called Mosaic-20, is designed to make it easier for authorities to assess which cases have the highest possibility of a fatal end result, de Becker said. The program, created to assess male batterers because they are six times more likely than women to commit an offense, sets a standard for dangerous behavior while giving authorities a measuring stick for the potential of violence.

In addition, a report of each batterer’s profile will be given to the Los Angeles district attorney’s office to document the seriousness of the incident and paint a picture of the violent history in each case. The county office reports that the number of domestic violence felony filings in the county has increased 220% since 1991.

“Mosaic will help us understand the context of the violence and its history,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Scott Gordon, who chairs the county committee on domestic violence. Gordon said his plan is to use Mosaic reports when a batterer is up for bail or sentencing.

The program does not determine a batterer’s guilt or innocence. De Becker, of Studio City, says its purpose is to diagnose the violence and get the woman to safety if that is needed.

After its debut in the Carson station, which responds to a high number of domestic violence calls, it will then be used in the Walnut and Lancaster divisions, Tyler said.

Already the program has attracted attention from other agencies, such as the New York Police Department. De Becker, who has given the program to the Sheriff’s Department and LAPD for free, said other agencies will have access to the software at a minimal fee, with proceeds donated to domestic violence programs once the program has been field-tested in Los Angeles.

Mosaic-20 is the most recent in a series of Mosaic programs that de Becker has created to analyze potential threats. He has developed software to assess stalkers, violence in the workplace and threats to federal judges and members of Congress.

Robert Ressler, a criminologist who worked in the FBI’s Behavioral Sciences Unit for 16 years, has referred federal agencies to de Becker, although the FBI does not use the program.

“It has a futuristic ability to predict crime and has a proven track record,” Ressler said. “You can predict a crime and deal with a potential situation based on a reading from a database. It will help law enforcement deal with situations successfully.”

De Becker co-chairs the Los Angeles County Domestic Violence Committee’s community advisory board and funds the county’s Domestic Violence Hotline, which connects victims to the nearest shelter, out of his own pocket. He also pays for a newly created children’s playroom in the district attorney’s office, where kids can play so their mothers can talk privately and freely with prosecutors about being abused. He says he believes strongly in “a woman’s right to live.”

In 1995, he created a program for the U.S. Marshal’s Service designed to evaluate which abortion and reproductive health clinics are at highest risk of being attacked.

Numerous federal agencies have used the same threat-assessment software to evaluate the seriousness of threats made to public figures. The California Highway Patrol’s office of dignitary protection uses a Mosaic program to protect the governor and legislators.

De Becker has testified in prominent stalking cases, including the stabbing of actress Theresa Saldana and the shooting death of actress Rebecca Schaeffer. He also worked on a case involving a threat to Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Mark Cannon, ex-assistant to former Chief Justice Warren Berger, recalled how in 1985 de Becker alerted the Supreme Court Police about a man with a history of mental problems who had written a list of people he wanted to kill, including O’Connor.

The man later was convicted of killing five of his family members, including his parents.

The Supreme Court’s contact with de Becker led its police arm to purchase Mosaic, which can cost up to $75,000, when it became available in 1993. Since then, said Dennis Chapas, a former Supreme Court security official, at least 2,000 potential threats have been run through the program.

“It is of course invaluable for the purpose of evaluating inappropriate letters,” said Chapas, who now uses Mosaic at U.S. Courts Security, which protects federal judges. “It helps us determine which communications we should pay close attention to.”

The CHP’s Special Investigations Unit takes letters that threaten the governor or legislators and runs them through the Mosaic system, Sgt. Steve Weston said. Yale University police use the program as well because many professors receive threatening letters, said Assistant Police Chief James Perrotti, who praised Mosaic.

“It gives you a reading on how serious the situation is and provides consistent guidelines for each case,” Perrotti said.