911 upgrades provide new way to help victims of domestic violence

Upgrades to the Sedgwick County 911 system will add a new way for dispatch operators to communicate with callers, potentially providing a new way to help victims of domestic violence, which has increased during the pandemic.

The 911 upgrades announced this week allow dispatch to conduct conversations via text, text and receive in any language and pinpoint caller locations.

Aggravated assault and aggravated battery cases related to domestic violence are up 17% from last year and 38% from the average of the past five years, according to the Wichita Police Department.

Wichita Family Crisis Center executive director Amanda Meyers said, besides an increase in people needing their services, there is also an increase in the severity of the attacks. More people working from home or being jobless means it’s harder for the person being abused to find a safe space to phone in domestic violence cases; so being able to communicate via text and in different languages will provide an extra out for victims, Meyers said.

“I think it is gonna be immensely helpful,” Meyers said.

Meyers said the Crisis Center has been spending at least $10,000 a month in hotel bills since March, when the 60 safe beds in the city started to stay at capacity. The Crisis Center and the Harbor House Domestic Violence Shelter provide the beds for victims in Sedgwick, Sumner and Cowley counties.

People can text 911 to start a conversation with dispatch. In Sedgwick County, a 10-digit number will appear during the 911 texts but that number can’t be used for the public to initiate conversations.

The upgrade also allows “input of location information as provided through the what3words app,” which can pinpoint a caller’s location to within 10 square feet, Sedgwick County said in a news release.

Sedgwick County did not respond to a request from The Eagle for more information.

Anyone who is in a dangerous domestic situation, or knows someone who is, can call:

• 911
• the Harbor House Domestic Violence Shelter at 316-263-6000
• the Wichita Family Crisis Center at 316-267-7233
• the Wichita Area Sexual Assault Center at 316-263-3002
• StepStone at 316-265-1611
• the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233

This story was originally published September 20, 2020 at 5:07 AM.