ABUSIVE MEN TO BE IDENTIFIED BY COMPUTER : PROGRAM TO DETERMINE VIOLENCE POTENTIAL.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writer

Using a program originally developed for evaluating threats against judges and congressmen, Lancaster sheriff's officials will launch an experiment aimed at predicting which spousal abuse cases are most likely to escalate into worse violence.

Domestic violence victims would be asked a list of questions: Does the abuser own guns? How many? How long ago did he buy them? Does he hold a regular job? What contact has he had with police? How often does he beat you? Answers would be fed into a computer to produce a risk assessment ranging from 1 to 10.

``A lot of times, the women are blind to the abuse around them,'' said Detective Cory Kennedy, who is assigned to run the yearlong pilot program in Lancaster. ``They need a figure like this to show them what's happening is not normal.''

The program is being launched this month at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department station in Carson. In coming months there also will be pilot programs at Walnut and Lancaster.

No specific date has been set yet for the Lancaster project, which still needs a computer to analyze the threat-questionnaire results.

``I think it's going to work great once we get it up and running,'' Kennedy said. ``First we have to design a plan on what would be the best way to operate it.''

The program's creator, Gavin de Becker, has designed similar ones for evaluating threats against federal judges, senators and congressmen. He served as a principal adviser on a federal research project studying mentally ill people who stalk public figures. He is chairman of the advisory board for the Los Angeles County Domestic Violence Committee.

The program is designed to evaluate threats only to women, who are six times more likely then men to be victims in domestic violence, officials said.

According to Kennedy, the assessment would start when the patrol deputy responded to a spousal abuse call. The deputy would ask the woman basic questions, such as whether the man has previously been abusive.

Authorities would then determine whether Kennedy needed to visit the victim to ask a series of 48 questions. The results would be fed into the program computer to get a rating on how violent the abuser might become.

``This isn't to say that the program will be 100 percent,'' Kennedy added. ``But it will show the . . . likelihood for further violent abuse.''

Kennedy is hoping that the department will buy laptop computers so he can fill out a survey at the woman's home, run the program and get an immediate answer.

The program does not prove guilt or innocence, but it will be provided to the district attorney's office and judges. It can influence prosecutors in determining whether to file an assault case as a felony or a misdemeanor, and it can be used by a judge in sentencing.

The victim can use the result to determine how serious her problem is and if she needs to get help. The report will list names, addresses and phone numbers of local agencies that can help abuse victims.

Kennedy hopes to work with the local agencies to create a response team that would comfort and counsel the victims.

``I've been in contact with a few agencies, but there are a lot of details that need to be worked out,'' he said. ``We're still in the initial ages. We have a lot of studying to do before we start our program.''