Connecticut has become the first state to fully implement a new questionnaire designed as a tool to help protect victims of domestic violence, according to Gov. Dannel Malloy.

Advocates say it can save lives.

There are 11 questions that officers will now ask domestic violence victims to gauge how much danger they're in.

"It's hard to get some of that information, but asking really well-researched questions can open up so much more concrete trust between the victim and the police officer," says Diane Dauplaise, with the Domestic Violence Crisis Center.

That's because when police arrive at the scene of a domestic incident, victims are often afraid to talk, according to experts.

"They're terrified," Dauplaise says. "They've just called the police on the person who they love."

To get victims to open up, police will now use this questionnaire.

Some of the questions are obviously important, Dauplaise says. In an exchange between actors used as an example, a police officer asks a victim if the suspect has ever used a weapon against her before.

"Yes," she replies.

Some are less obvious, like "Is your partner unemployed?"

If there are enough "yes" answers on the questionnaire, police will get a domestic violence counselor on the phone.

The questionnaire is called the Lethality Assessment Program, or LAP. Connecticut is the first state to implement it at all police departments statewide, the governor says.