This article discusses domestic violence. If you or someone you know has been assaulted, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 for free, 24/7 support.
MADISON, Wis. — Law enforcement in Dane County have been working alongside the Victim Witness Unit for the Dane County District Attorney's Office for decades.
Julie Foley is the deputy director of the Victim Witness Unit. Foley said technology plays an important role in responding to domestic violence calls.
“If the victim who is within their home is experiencing safety concerns, they press what looks like a garage door opener and the message goes directly to 911,” said Foley.
Domestic violence calls are known to be one of the most dangerous calls responded to by law enforcement, according to Foley.
Foley said technology from Response Technologies helps to minimize that risk for everyone involved.
“After pressing the button, the message goes directly to 911 and 911 has information that is collected on each victim’s safety concern,” said Foley.
Foley said the devices her team was using in the past had one major flaw. She said in order for them to be used, the victims had to be inside their home.
“If you live in rural Dane County and your mailbox is way at the end of your lane, sometimes the signal will not even reach to the end of your driveway so we were like, ‘What can we do to enhance the safety?’” said Foley.
Recently, the Victim Witness Unit obtained a much more discrete button that can be used anywhere at any time.
Katherine Wessel is a domestic violence detective with the Dane County Sheriff’s Office and she said this new technology is life-saving.
“The benefit with that is the person can leave the house and maybe feel more comfortable doing so,” said Wessel.
Wessel said she always advises victims to call 911 if they can, but if their only option is to press the alert button, here’s what she said will happen.
“When you push this button, your location will be sent directly to dispatch and we will start getting officers and deputies to you as soon as possible,” said Wessel.
According to End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin, 96 people lost their lives to domestic violence in 2022 — 16 more deaths than the previous year.
Data from the Madison Police Department shows that four out of 10 homicides in Madison were the result of domestic violence in 2023.
Foley said she hopes this technology helps to lower these numbers.
“We are empowering our victims with safety options, we are empowering law enforcement with more information and we are minimizing the risk to the general public for incidents of this kind,” said Foley.