Rural Wisconsin Crime Reduction Program Presented at International Police Conference

A new social service partnership in Vernon County is trying to reduce the harm of domestic violence and is attracting international attention.

Local leaders will share the success of their initiative to reduce rural violent crime at the International Association of the Chiefs of Police’s 2024 Conference and Exhibition next week

Program Manager Susan Townsley is the clinical director for Stonehouse Counseling in Viroqua. She told WPR’s Wisconsin Today that the county received a $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to fund training for local law enforcement, clinicians and volunteers to better respond to domestic violence cases .

This includes a new Help End Abuse Response Team (HEART) that joins officers on domestic violence calls – after police have secured the scene – to provide victims with resources to help them leave the abusive relationship .

“We know that victims are unlikely to call, and if they do call, it is critically important to ensure we provide them with the proper resources they need at that time,” Townsley said. “Because if we wait, there’s a chance the abuser will be back in the house or they’ve been texting and the cycle of abuse will start all over again.”

The program is a collaboration between a handful of local social service agencies, as well as the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office, the Department of Human Services and the district attorney.

Sheriff Roy Torgerson told WPR that policing domestic violence in a rural community like his comes with its own challenges because officer response times are longer in remote communities, but he sees the new program making his deputies’ jobs easier.

“It took a while to sell this to officials. That’s because any change you implement in law enforcement, they go through a lot of training,” Torgerson said. “But we made it clear to officers that these advocates and the HEART volunteers are there to take some of that burden off the officers so they can focus on their work.”

The initiative also trains local health care providers to conduct sexual assault assessments and added domestic violence assessments and group sessions for perpetrators with the goal of preventing them from re-offending.

Sheriff Torgerson said it was difficult to quantify the partnership’s success based on local domestic violence statistics, but he saw real progress in the increased support victims now receive.

“Too often (officers) spend more time with the perpetrator than with the victim, and that’s wrong,” Torgerson said. “This is where the HEART team complements that, and we are able to connect those volunteers with the victim and share those resources.”

Townsley, of Stonehouse Counseling, works at HEART and has also seen firsthand how the right resources and support make a difference for survivors in her community.

“We came to a call and sat down with the victim to help her understand the cycle of abuse she was in,” Townsley said. “At the end she said, ‘If you all hadn’t come, I would be back with him in the morning.'”

Townsley and Sheriff Torgerson hope that by presenting their program at the International Association of the Chiefs of Police’s 2024 conference, they can encourage other communities around the world to form partnerships to reduce domestic violence.