Help Is A Push Away

No battered woman ever feels completely safe from an attack by an abusive husband or boyfriend -- even one barred by injunction from contacting her. Because plenty of assailants simply refuse to stay away, police departments and women's shelters in Boston and Knoxville will be providing "panic buttons" that allow victims to summon help electronically. ADT Security Systems of Tampa is offering electronic devices free of charge to a limited number of women in cities participating in the six-month pilot program. The devices are worn as pendants or installed in homes as security-system panels. A woman fearing imminent assault can press her panic button, which relays a signal through her telephone line to ADT dispatchers, who in turn notify police. The victim must be inside her home or within 200 ft. of it for the device to work. To be eligible for the test program, already under way in Tampa and Jacksonville, the women must agree in advance to press charges if the assailant is caught. Said ADT spokesman Jay Stuck: "This is not designed for a woman who's had a bad Saturday night with her husband."