Grand County is one of four counties in the nation selected for a yearlong domestic violence response program, a move local officials hope will bring lasting improvements to how law enforcement, prosecutors and advocates handle domestic violence cases.
“This is getting us expert help,” said Moab Police Detective Robert Sterry, who helped lead the application process. “Even if we hadn’t been selected, we were going to do this anyway, but now we have the weight and expertise of national organizations behind us.”
The Institute for Community Coordinated Response (ICCR), which provides training and mentorship to rural communities, selected Grand County as a cohort in January after reviewing applications from across the country. This is the first time ICCR has expanded its program nationwide, having previously only worked with counties in Texas and Oklahoma.
The program, which runs annually, includes site visits, case reviews, policy assessments and quarterly in-person trainings aimed at strengthening collaboration between agencies. The goal is to help counties establish and improve Coordinated Community Response teams, which ensure that law enforcement, prosecutors, community-based advocates and victim advocates work together effectively at every stage of a domestic violence case — from initial response to prosecution and long-term survivor support.
“It’s vital that our programs are on the same page and understand our different goals and why we approach the situation a certain way,” said Abi Taylor, executive director of Seekhaven Family Crisis & Resource Center.
The nonprofit provides emergency shelter, advocacy and support services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Grand County and the surrounding region.
Moab Police, the Grand County Attorney’s Office, Seekhaven and the Victim Assistance Program, among others, will serve as the core team leading the program locally. Sterry said that currently, the Grand County Sheriff’s Office is not participating in the ICCR, but there will be trainings apart of the program open to other law enforcement agencies and community members.
“I hope and anticipate Grand County Sheriff’s Office will join us for those high value trainings,” he said.
A pressing need in Grand County
Grand County’s participation in ICCR comes at a critical time. From 2013 to 2023, Grand County had the highest per-capita rate of domestic violence cases filed in district court in Utah, according to an analysis by The Utah Investigative Journalism Project.
Sterry said in 2024, Moab police handled 103 domestic violence cases, nearly 20 incidents per 1,000 residents — more than four times the most recent statewide average of 4.5 per 1,000, according to a 2023 Utah State University analysis.
Taylor said official reports do not capture the full extent of domestic violence, as many survivors fear coming forward due to financial or housing dependence, immigration status, substance abuse or status in the community, among other factors.
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“There’s so many reasons people [return to their abuser] and they’re all so different,” she said. “… And not all abuse is physical — it might just be just controlling someone’s everyday life and monitoring where they’re at, isolating them from people that they love.”
Some research shows that in about one-third of intimate partner homicides, there was no prior indication of physical abuse. Taylor said this underscores the importance of recognizing coercive control and other non-physical forms of abuse as serious warning signs.
Sterry said there is a common misconception that domestic violence cases in Moab primarily involve visitors.
“People assume these cases involve tourists, but 99% of our cases are people that live here,” he said. “Because people are living here and there’s so much stress with work and housing and stuff like that, they tend to escalate, and they go through that cycle while they live here.”
Taylor said housing insecurity is one of the biggest barriers for survivors trying to leave an abusive situation.
“If somebody decides to leave a domestic violence situation, can we house them appropriately?” she said. “Can we ensure that they don’t feel the need to have to go back to their abuser just to have a place to live, which is very common, unfortunately, not just here.”
Starting in July 2023, Utah law now requires law enforcement officers to conduct a Lethality Assessment Protocol when responding to intimate partner violence incidents to help identify high-risk cases. Between July 2023 and May 2024, more than 16,000 assessments were conducted statewide, with 63% indicating a potentially lethal situation, according to a Utah Department of Public Safety report.
A coordinated approach and the next steps in the program
To kick off the program, Grand County’s team will attend the Conference on Crimes Against Women in Dallas in May, where they will receive intensive training alongside other selected counties. Before that, ICCR staff will conduct a community needs assessment, visiting Moab to review cases, interview stakeholders and analyze how domestic violence incidents are handled across agencies.
Sterry said ICCR’s structured process will help Grand County agencies identify and address gaps in policies, coordination and victim services that might otherwise go unaddressed.
“Moab is fantastic for this,” Sterry said. “In bigger cities, there can be friction between agencies. Here, we all work together — Seekhaven is around the corner, the county attorney’s office is just down the street and our victim advocates are in my office.”
Grand County will also host quarterly in-person trainings, bringing national experts to Moab to work with law enforcement, prosecutors, victim advocates, healthcare providers and other stakeholders.
Sterry said domestic violence is not just a law enforcement issue but a broader community challenge, often rooted in economic instability, social structures and patterns of control. By the time law enforcement gets involved, he said, the abuse has often been occurring for a long time, making it crucial to have a coordinated response that includes victim advocates and other community resources.
“Law enforcement has a very narrow scope,” he said. “We need to rely on community partners to address the things that fall outside of our responsibility.”
While law enforcement, prosecutors and victim advocates all play different roles, Sterry said their collaboration is key to improving response efforts.
“We shouldn’t always have the same response or take the same actions, but we should always have the same goal,” he said.
Taylor echoed that sentiment, saying that while law enforcement and prosecutors focus on accountability, victim advocates prioritize survivor safety and autonomy.
“Ultimately, a victim is more likely to collaborate and participate in an investigation when they feel safe and when they know what their future is in store for them,” she said.
Learning from past cases and the legacy of Gabby Petito
ICCR includes case reviews, allowing agencies to examine past domestic violence incidents and identify areas for improvement.
The ability to learn from past cases is particularly relevant in Moab, where one domestic violence response has drawn international scrutiny.
In August 2021, Moab police responded to a 911 call reporting a man slapping a woman near the Moonflower Community Cooperative. The couple, later identified as Gabby Petito and her fiancé Brian Laundrie, were stopped by police near Arches National Park.
Body camera footage showed Petito visibly distressed, with a cut on her cheek. Officers did not make any arrests, instead separating the couple for the night. Weeks later, Petito was found dead in Wyoming, with Laundrie later admitting to her killing in a notebook discovered after his suicide.
The case drew widespread criticism of law enforcement’s handling of domestic violence incidents. An independent review found that the officers who responded to the incident made several unintentional mistakes, including failing to cite Petito for domestic violence.
In November 2022, Petito’s parents filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Moab Police Department. The lawsuit was dismissed last November, with the judge citing the Governmental Immunity Act of Utah. The parents plan to appeal the dismissal.
Sterry, who was not with Moab Police at the time, said the department aims to improve its response — not just because of past scrutiny, but because domestic violence is a community issue.
“When a system comes under stress, it can either break, stay the same or get stronger. We want to get stronger,” he said. “We’re taking a hard look at what we do and how we can do better.”
The ICCR program runs through May 2026, when Grand County’s team will present its findings at the Conference on Crimes Against Women. While the structured program lasts one year, counties remain eligible for ongoing ICCR support, including additional training and resources to sustain long-term improvements.
“This is a community effort. We need everyone’s help,” he said. “We have a long road ahead, but I’m excited to see where this goes.”
For those experiencing intimate partner violence, local and statewide resources are available, including:
This story was first published by The Times-Independent.
