New system helps women to fight abuse

A new security system will provide additional protection for victims of domestic violence who fear abuse from former spouses or other batterers.

ADT Security Services announced on Wednesday that it is providing emergency necklace pendants with panic buttons to people who have protection-from-abuse orders.

ADT is offering the systems for free to as many people as qualify, at an estimated cost of $50,000.

"This is really about keeping women in Portland alive," said Mayor Karen Geraghty at a morning press conference.

The Portland Police Department responds to an average of 100 calls per month for domestic abuse - on average, five women per month are taken to hospitals for injuries from abuse.

The security system installed in a victim's home consists of a base unit and a portable panic button on a chain that can be worn or placed in a pocket or on a bed stand.

Pressing the button automatically triggers a call to ADT, which contacts police.

The system replaces a similar one that was supplied by Varda until earlier this year.

The Varda system, which was connected to the dispatch system, had to be abandoned because Portland's police and fire departments switched to a radio dispatch system with a higher frequency.

The Varda units, meanwhile, have been passed on to other communities in Cumberland County that use the lower frequencies.

These things have been in use for a long time. My elderly aunt has one. The response time might be a bit shorter than calling 911. What happens when the button is pressed is that an operator speaks through the box that is placed in the home, asking what the problem is. If there is no response, the police are dispatched.

The biggest drawback to this equipment is that it doesn't work if the woman is outside of her home. That's why a trusty sidearm is by far the best method of self-protection against these perps!

We were just discussing this tomfoolery when it appeared in the Portland Press last week.

So the victim pushes the button when former lover-boy kicks the door in with blood in his dope - glazed eye; by the time Portland's finest arrive on the scene, they can take a few pictures of the blood spatter patterns on the walls and cielings, bag the body, notify the next of Kin, and write up a nice report. Perhaps the Coroner will recover the little "Help-I've-fallen-and Can't-Get-Back-Up" button from the remains during the autopsy, still emitting it's little radio alarm. How charming.

No doubt a better "alarm system" would involve the distinct audible report of an intended victim discharging a 12-guage into her assailant's guts - but that might "offend' somebody, don't we know, and we can't have that - not around Phillidelphia Mike's precinct, anyhow.

Why is it so many women insist on getting into relationship with vicious, criminal drug-addicted thugs in the first place anyhow? Is it that us really nice, gentle, considerate guys are all THAT boring?

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.