MARQUETTE, MI-- Marquette County is kicking off its Blueprint for Safety domestic violence project Wednesday.
Prosecuting Attorney Matt Wiese says the project involves a number of partners, including dispatch, all county law enforcement, the prosecutor’s office, jail, probation and parole, pretrial services, and the Marquette Women’s Center. The Blueprint is a system-wide analysis to see how entities respond to domestic violence. It focuses on putting the victim’s experience first and foremost and identifying any gaps in the process that decrease victim safety. Wiese says it also puts attention on the offender in holding them accountable during the process.
Wiese notes more than half of the women who are homicide victims in the U.S. are killed by their intimate partner or ex-intimate partner, and the Blueprint aims to alter that statistic.
“We never know when a case could go lethal, but to increase the safety of the victim and send messages of accountability to the offender empowers the victim to make decisions to perhaps get out of a bad relationship and, overall, increase their safety,” he says.
The Blueprint for Safety was funded by a Department of Justice grant received two years ago. Wiese says since then, partner agencies have been reviewing and changing their policies to accommodate a more victim-focused approach.
The Blueprint was researched and launched in four urban areas of the country. Wiese says as far as he knows, Marquette County is the first rural, county-wide region to implement the plan.
A booklet containing revised domestic violence policies will be released Wednesday at 3 p.m. at a formal event at Northern Michigan University’s University Center. Wiese says over the next year officials will review it to see if any further gaps need to be addressed.
