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Assault victims can get alarms
West Allis police to be alerted when users are in danger of violence
By ANNYSA JOHNSON
[email protected]
Last Updated: March 3, 2003
In a first for southeastern Wisconsin, some victims of domestic violence and rape in West Allis will have access to free alarms that will alert police when they are in danger, the West Allis Police Department is scheduled to announce today.
The program, developed by ADT Security Services Inc., is targeted at victims police believe are in imminent danger of assault. It's been implemented in 169 communities nationwide since 1992 and is credited with saving 35 lives, according to the company.
Dane County began offering the program in June 2001. But West Allis, which has taken significant steps to address domestic violence in the last year, is the first to offer it locally.
"We see it as a way to better serve victims and help assure their safety," said West Allis police Lt. Gregory Blaskowski, who oversees the department's sensitive crimes unit.
The executive director of Sojourner Truth House - which operates a domestic violence hotline and a shelter for battered women and their children, and provides treatment for abusers - lauded the program but cautioned that no single initiative can fully protect victims.
"There is no foolproof safety measure," said Kathie Stolpman. "Victims have to have other plans, other measures to convey to neighbors and family that they are in danger."
The ADT program, called AWARE - for Abused Women's Active Response Emergency - provides security units and alarm necklaces to victims police believe are in imminent danger from their abusers. Though it's been used most in domestic violence cases, Blaskowski said, the units also will be offered to victims in some rape cases.
He expects to distribute six to 10 units a year. However, ADT will make available as many as the department needs, said company spokeswoman Kathy Bartomeyer.
"We leave it up to the experts in the community to determine which people are at high risk. But there are three key things we look for: that the person is in imminent danger, they have a restraining order against the individual, and they agree to prosecute if that person is apprehended as a result of the system," she said.
West Allis police responded to 652 domestic violence calls in 2002, according to Blaskowski.
Over the last seven months, calls from West Allis police to the Sojourner Truth domestic violence hotline on behalf of victims accounted for about half of all of its calls from suburban departments. But Stolpman said that is an indication not of a greater problem there, but of the Police Department's concerted efforts to address it.
"They are showing real leadership on this issue," said Stolpman, whose organization has operated the hotline since 1986.
"Domestic violence is happening in every community. But many times, people are reluctant to involve the police."
According to Blaskowski, West Allis aggressively enforces the state law requiring mandatory arrest in domestic abuse cases. In addition, he said, the department in August hired an advocate for abuse victims with federal grant dollars and is putting its 135 patrol officers through special training to help them better understand the problems associated with the crime.
"One of the questions they have is why the women don't leave," Blaskowski said.
"Well, 75 percent of women who are killed by their partners are killed after they've left or are getting ready to. That's one reason," he said.
A version of this story appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on March 4, 2003.
West Allis police to be alerted when users are in danger of violence
By ANNYSA JOHNSON
[email protected]
Last Updated: March 3, 2003
In a first for southeastern Wisconsin, some victims of domestic violence and rape in West Allis will have access to free alarms that will alert police when they are in danger, the West Allis Police Department is scheduled to announce today.
The program, developed by ADT Security Services Inc., is targeted at victims police believe are in imminent danger of assault. It's been implemented in 169 communities nationwide since 1992 and is credited with saving 35 lives, according to the company.
Dane County began offering the program in June 2001. But West Allis, which has taken significant steps to address domestic violence in the last year, is the first to offer it locally.
"We see it as a way to better serve victims and help assure their safety," said West Allis police Lt. Gregory Blaskowski, who oversees the department's sensitive crimes unit.
The executive director of Sojourner Truth House - which operates a domestic violence hotline and a shelter for battered women and their children, and provides treatment for abusers - lauded the program but cautioned that no single initiative can fully protect victims.
"There is no foolproof safety measure," said Kathie Stolpman. "Victims have to have other plans, other measures to convey to neighbors and family that they are in danger."
The ADT program, called AWARE - for Abused Women's Active Response Emergency - provides security units and alarm necklaces to victims police believe are in imminent danger from their abusers. Though it's been used most in domestic violence cases, Blaskowski said, the units also will be offered to victims in some rape cases.
He expects to distribute six to 10 units a year. However, ADT will make available as many as the department needs, said company spokeswoman Kathy Bartomeyer.
"We leave it up to the experts in the community to determine which people are at high risk. But there are three key things we look for: that the person is in imminent danger, they have a restraining order against the individual, and they agree to prosecute if that person is apprehended as a result of the system," she said.
West Allis police responded to 652 domestic violence calls in 2002, according to Blaskowski.
Over the last seven months, calls from West Allis police to the Sojourner Truth domestic violence hotline on behalf of victims accounted for about half of all of its calls from suburban departments. But Stolpman said that is an indication not of a greater problem there, but of the Police Department's concerted efforts to address it.
"They are showing real leadership on this issue," said Stolpman, whose organization has operated the hotline since 1986.
"Domestic violence is happening in every community. But many times, people are reluctant to involve the police."
According to Blaskowski, West Allis aggressively enforces the state law requiring mandatory arrest in domestic abuse cases. In addition, he said, the department in August hired an advocate for abuse victims with federal grant dollars and is putting its 135 patrol officers through special training to help them better understand the problems associated with the crime.
"One of the questions they have is why the women don't leave," Blaskowski said.
"Well, 75 percent of women who are killed by their partners are killed after they've left or are getting ready to. That's one reason," he said.
A version of this story appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on March 4, 2003.
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