La Plata, MD – For victims of domestic violence, the fear is very real.
Protection Plus is a new program introduced to the citizens of Charles County Tuesday, June 14 at the Charles County Commissioners regular weekly meeting, which will allow victims of domestic violence to change the locks on their home to prevent access to the abuser.
The initiative was prompted by Charles County Commissioner President Peter Murphy [D] who said it offers victims of domestic violence an added measure of protection from their abuser.
Murphy said the funding does not come from the county budget, but from a budget each commissioner is allotted for projects in their communities.
Commissioner Amanda Stewart [D-District 3] uses hers to fund a Back to School program for students in her district returning to the classroom. he pointed out.
“Each commissioner does something in their district,” Murphy explained. “In my case, I run countywide, so I wanted to come up with something that would be a benefit to all county residents.
“What prompted this was an incident I became aware of where a child was a victim of abuse,” he added. “The child was really frightened of their abuser who still had access to the house. The child was afraid to go to sleep at night.”
In order to participate in the program, the victim has to obtain a protection order or peace order, then contact the Charles County State’s Attorney’s Domestic Violence unit and a locksmith who is in the program will come and change their locks and will be reimbursed from the Protection Plus program.
Charles County State’s Attorney Tony Covington said the new program is a welcome asset.
“Commissioner Murphy has a little bit of money through the county to do something with,” Covington said. “It was his idea to help out with changing locks for folks who need that.
“It’s not a whole lot of money,” he added, but admitted that every little bit helps.
“We don’t have any money earmarked for such things,” he said. “We have, as I’ve said before, not enough resources, but we have some.
“I think it’s a great thing and I’m glad he came up with that idea and met with us and all the victims,” Covington added. “We appreciate that every much.”
A victim of domestic violence told the commissioners Tuesday that such a program will be valuable to those caught up in intolerant situations.
“I had a situation where he was cutting off utilities in the house,” she said. “I couldn’t even call 911. He was sending family members to the house who had keys. I had no way of sleeping comfortably at night. People showed up unexpectedly. My work was impacted by the situation.
“This program would have helped me,” she said.
Contact Joseph Norris at joe.norris@thebaynet.com