SPOKANE COUNTY, Wash — April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office is spending the rest of the month raising money to buy Ring doorbell cameras for sexual assault victims.
Ring doorbell cameras are devices that provide 24-hour audio and visual surveillance for a residence. But they can also provide a sense of safety for victims.
According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, an American is assaulted every 68 seconds.
According to Detective Brad Humphrey, who’s part of the department’s Sexual Assault Unit, these types of crimes can be difficult.
"Crimes of sexual violence, a lot of time you can't see the injury. It's all mental and it takes years and years to be able to heal from,” Humphrey said.
According to SCSO, even if a sexual assault perpetrator’s arrested, they're often released without bond while pending trial and often with limited supervision.
Detective Humphrey said the victims he's spoken to often feel powerless
"A lot of the time, that power's been taken from them and they've said they would benefit from having a surveillance system on the exterior of their house just to give them a sense of security," Humphrey said.
The detective said 100% of the proceeds will goes towards buying the Ring cameras. Once the money's raised and the cameras bought, they'll be donated to Lutheran Community Services Sexual Assault Advocacy program, who will then give the Ring cameras to survivors of sexual assault.
The goal was to raise $1,000 to buy ten Ring cameras. But as of Wednesday afternoon, the fundraiser’s raised over $1,700.
Detective Humphrey said they’ll continue to raise money and buy as many cameras as possible.
“I'm basically just going to take whatever number we raise and divide it by 100 and that's how many cameras we're going to be able to buy, so whether that's ten or 100," Humphrey said.
To donate to the fundraiser, go to their GoFundMe page.