Many who work with victims of Domestic Violence felt a critical need to advance knowledge of the dynamics that lead to spousal homicide, and with good reason: If a full jumbo jet crashed into a mountain killing everyone on board, and if that happened every month, month in and month out, the number of people killed still wouldn’t equal the number of women murdered by their husbands and boyfriends each year.

Gavin de Becker advised lawyers in both the criminal and civil cases against O.J. Simpson, focusing on the pre-incident indicators (PINS) apparent in the case. He worked with Senior Deputy District Attorney Scott Gordon, who handled the domestic violence component of the prosecution.

Gordon recognized the stalking behavior described in the MOSAIC for Assessment of Workplace Violence as nearly identical to Simpson’s pre-offense behavior. But he saw something more: As a former police detective, a prosecutor, and as Chairman of the Domestic Violence Council, Gordon felt certain that early recognition of these patterns could help police prevent spousal homicides more often.

Without any reliance on government, and funded entirely with proceeds from de Becker’s book, The Gift of Fear, the project to modify and enhance MOSAIC to evaluate spousal abuse situations began in 1995. LAPD offered to have detectives participate in a field test of the new system, and many officials and practitioners contributed insights and encouragement. Today, MOSAIC for Assessment of Domestic Violence Situations is the most widely deployed MOSAIC system, used by police detectives all over America.

Perhaps the greatest benefit of the method is that domestic violence victims can see a written report that is item-by-item what they have told detectives. Seeing the information in a form that cannot be easily denied or minimized has had a substantial impact.

A recent report funded by the Department of Justice Violence Against Women Office interviewed users of MOSAIC, and noted:

"Nearly everyone interviewed for this report relayed a story about how MOSAIC convinced a woman to seek help who would not have otherwise."

In 1997, under the guidance of Lieutenant Sue Tyler and Detective Bernice Abram, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deployed MOSAIC at all of its stations. Since then, it’s been credited with substantial reductions in homicide by spousal abusers whose cases Sheriff’s deputies have evaluated.