Lafayette Police Sent Report

Lafayette officers made at least one referral to county social workers about family problems in Linda Damm's home before her daughter was arrested and accused of participating in her killing, Police Chief Paul Schultz said Monday.

Boulder County social workers insist they never received the referral - despite police paperwork showing a fax had been sent. They blame either a technical glitch in a fax machine or a "human glitch," such as someone inadvertently throwing away the report.

To prevent similar problems in the future, the agencies agreed to change the system. Police now will send in a weekly report about referrals they have made and social service workers will check it against what they received and then notify police.

Social services director Paula McKey said the referrals will be sent by e-mail so there is an audit trail.

"We have to move from here and make sure this type of thing doesn't happen again," McKey said following a meeting Monday with Schultz.