SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) -- Victims of domestic violence will soon have a new place to go for help in Shreveport -- the city's firehouses.
The Shreveport Fire Department is joining with the YWCA, the Shreveport Police Department and the Gingerbread House to establish the SafeHouse Program.
``Imagine for a woman or child who have been abused, what this will mean when there is a fire house right up the street,'' said Roxann Johnson, CEO of the YWCA of Northwest Louisiana. ``This is another avenue to ensure the prompt critical treatment and safety of a woman or child that is living in a violent relationship.''
When a victim arrives at a fire station, the station automatically will go into lock-down mode, with one firefighter talking to the victim as another dials 911. Either a police officer or an advocate will then be dispatched to the station.
In addition to providing protection, the firehouses can also offer medical assistance, Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran said.
``The Shreveport Fire Department wants to ... be that safe place, safe haven,'' Cochran said. ``We have a lot of resources to take care of their medical needs if need be.''
``SafeHouse'' signs -- a dove with an olive branch in its mouth, and a silhouette of a fire station -- will help remind victims where they can go for help.
Firefighters received two months of training that ended in June, with the Fire Department receiving assistance from the YWCA, the Shreveport Police Department domestic violence unit as well as information from the Caddo district attorney's office and the Gingerbread House.
``The first words out of their mouths could really make a big difference,'' Cochran said of his firefighters. ``Our approach has to be a calming approach to where (the victims) feel comfortable. ``(Firefighters) will say as little as possible; they will be more listeners than speakers.''
The Shreveport program was modeled after the 2-year-old Firestation Haven Project at the Indianapolis Fire Department. Former IFD Chief Louis Dezelan said going public with the project was just formalizing ``the way they help, and publicized the fact that if you are out on the street and have nowhere to go, you could come here.''
