* Comment from Amalia…

“Peoria County jail records indicate Massengill was arrested for domestic battery in 2022,” It is past time that law enforcement started connecting the dots between domestic violence and other violent crimes. We spend so much time talking about root causes of violence and domestic violence does not get enough focus. Hurting those close to one, stalking, INCELs, it’s a big root cause.

* This is the story that Amalia quoted, from Fox 2…

The Chillicothe man accused of the Planned Parenthood arson in Peoria on January 15 has an extensive criminal history dating back 20 years, court and jail records show.

Tyler Massengill has been arrested more than 25 times in Peoria County.

Peoria County court records show Massengill is on probation for aggravated assault and criminal trespass to a residence. He also served time in prison for theft in 2016.

Peoria County jail records indicate Massengill was arrested for domestic battery in 2022, criminal damage to property in 2019 and 2016, violent mob action in 2013 and 2011, aggravated domestic battery with strangling in 2012 and residential burglary in 2007, to name a few.

* WTHR, 2021…

Sandra Ziebold is the executive director of Beacon of Hope Crisis Center in Indianapolis, and said she has seen an increase in victims who have been victims of strangulation. […]

“Nonfatal strangulation has been reported in nearly 45 percent of attempted homicides in domestic violence situations against women, and 97 percent of victims are strangled manually,” Ziebold said.

Her organization saw such an increase in reported strangulations, that they began collecting data on their own. What they found aligned with previous reports from researchers and law enforcement professionals concluding nonfatal strangulation is a leading indicator of escalating violence in a relationship, and an important risk factor for homicide.

“That data collected, just time after time, shows that a strangler typically ends up committing other homicides. And oftentimes, just with the gun. Most often, even cop killers, you can typically link them back to having been prior stranglers,” Ziebold said.

* Vox looked into the Gabby Petito case in 2021 and analyzed law enforcement’s handling of cases with intimate partner violence.…

Every domestic violence event may double as an intervention point — a moment when authorities can step in and take action before a relationship escalates into more violence, to get help for the victim, to separate the couple, and/or get assistance and resources for the potentially violent partner. […]

At minimum, training should involve teaching first responders to do a thorough risk assessment to determine who is the vulnerable partner and who is the predominant aggressor — the person at risk of escalating into violence.

According to a 2015 survey by the Police Executive Research Forum, about 42 percent of law enforcement agencies conduct risk assessments in domestic violence situations. Only 39 percent of agencies have a “specific strategy for responding to repeat domestic violence calls.” That number needs to be much higher across the country.

Agencies should also be able to identify intervention points that might allow them to help deescalate situations and prevent later violence from occurring. These might range from a routine home visit from an agency to a 911 call; hospital visits are also prime opportunities to identify domestic violence victims, but assessments in those settings are uncommon. A grounding in the theory of coercive control in relationships — to recognize abuse that may be emotional but not currently physical — can help police and other first responders see past the dominant narrative of a controlling partner. Every domestic violence event may double as an intervention point — a moment when authorities can step in and take action before a relationship escalates into more violence, to get help for the victim, to separate the couple, and/or get assistance and resources for the potentially violent partner.

* FBI press release…

Today, the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) released Mass Attacks in Public Spaces: 2016 - 2020, a comprehensive report examining 173 incidents of targeted violence and highlighting the observable commonalities among the attackers.

The analysis is intended to provide critical information to a cross-sector of community organizations that have a role in preventing these types of tragedies. Among the report’s key findings:

-Most of the attackers had exhibited behavior that elicited concern in family members, friends, neighbors, classmates, co-workers, and others, and in many cases, those individuals feared for the safety of themselves or others.

-Many attackers had a history of physically aggressive or intimidating behaviors, evidenced by prior violent criminal arrests/charges, domestic violence, or other acts of violence toward others. […]

-One-quarter of the attackers subscribed to a belief system involving conspiracies or hateful ideologies, including anti-government, anti-Semitic, and misogynistic views.

* As mass shootings increase, data shows that an overwhelming majority have a connection to domestic violence…

We found that 59.1% of mass shootings between 2014 and 2019 were DV-related and in 68.2% of mass shootings, the perpetrator either killed at least one partner or family member or had a history of DV. We found significant differences in the average number of injuries and fatalities between DV and history of DV shootings and a higher average case fatality rate associated with DV-related mass shootings (83.7%) than non-DV-related (63.1%) or history of DV mass shootings (53.8%). Fifty-five perpetrators died during the shootings; 39 (70.9%) died by firearm suicide, 15 (27.3%) were killed by police, and 1 (1.8%) died from an intentional overdose.