The Red Deer Outreach Centre is hoping the province will approve funding for panic buttons for domestic violence victims and GPS ankle bracelets to monitor offenders.
The request was made just weeks before a woman was stabbed to death on Tuesday in front of a Calgary elementary school. The suspect, who was later found dead, was reported to have breached no-contact orders, harassed and stalked the woman.
Executive director Ian Wheeliker said the centre provides GPS panic buttons to its high-risk clients, which connects them to 911.
“We have a few of them out now but it’s not a big program. We don’t have a budget for it, but we find a way to do it,” Wheeliker said.
An ankle monitor would alert police and victims of the location of the offender.
Wheeliker said while it’s difficult to say for sure whether an ankle monitor would have prevented the tragic death in Calgary, a monitor would have alerted police if he was not allowed to be at the school.
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Wheeler said her death speaks to the continued need for police and organizations working in the domestic violence sector to collaborate, coordinate and communicate about high-risk cases so everybody has the most up-to-date and critical information, as well as consider adding technology to safety planning.
“We’ve got to find the budgets to include that in our options for protecting victims of domestic violence.”
He said Red Deer had a successful ankle monitor pilot program about 1o years ago that ran for about three years until funding ran out. Right now, only police in Calgary and Edmonton have small-budget programs to monitor people at high risk of re-offend.
He said support for ankle monitors for dangerous offenders was included in the UCP’s election campaign, and if funded, it wouldn’t take long to be implemented across Alberta.
A statement from the Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services, said the province is moving forward with a modern ankle bracelet monitoring program to enhance public safety and to offer additional tools to the courts in the supervision of individuals released on bail.
“This program will be for individuals that have been identified for electronic monitoring and are under the jurisdiction of the province for community supervision by probation officers. The program development is currently underway,” the ministry said.
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Late last year, the Outreach Centre submitted a grant application for funding to support its efforts to better protect victims.
“We’re asking for the GPS panic devices to be included in that grant and we strongly advocate for the ankle bracelet program for domestic violence offenders.”
He said between April 1 and Dec. 31, 2023 a total of 877 victims of domestic violence were served by the centre’s programs so the need is high.
“It’s critical that all the service providers, including the police, look at each case as potentially lethal and we do our absolute best to co-ordinate, assess risk and collaborate in the response.”
And when the risk is high, women should be encouraged to go to a shelter, Wheeliker added.
Danica Hoffart, executive director of Central Alberta Women’s Emergency Shelter, said the death in Calgary on Tuesday was “horrifying and heart-breaking, but sadly, it’s not surprising.”
“This is the risk many of our clients face,” Hoffart said.
She wants women to know they’re not alone and that there are shelters all across the province ready to help them navigate terrifying times and get them to safety so they can move on to the next chapter of their lives.
“There is help to get out, but it takes a lot of courage to make that first call and that first step.”
— with files from The Canadian Press