Respectfully, the deaths of Mindy Brugger, Brianna Wittl, Alberta Dale, and Nicole Perez did not expose a previously invisible epidemic of violence in Ulster County.

They are the result of institutional failures that citizens in this county have repeatedly asked multiple agencies to address for many years, both as individual victims and as groups of victims. The county should not further gaslight these victims by stating they were unaware.

Every victim who gave testimony on Sept. 15 at both the Ulster County Legislative session and the vigil afterward described going to law enforcement, domestic abuse services and law enforcement repeatedly pleading for intervention, many times for years. In their testimony, we heard multiple victims state over and over again "There is no real help." The violence has been visible. The victims have been minimized, gaslighted and dismissed. These are not exceptions, they are patterns of escalating danger that victims have called attention to for years.

As a healthcare provider in this community, I have a unique perspective on this problem. I began noticing patterns in parent circles and among my patients. Women who had endured years of horrific abuse were coming to me terrified, suicidal, and experiencing severe PTSD. They had been told by Domestic Violence services in this area to “just leave” and “tell someone.” Yet, when they seek safety for themselves and their children, they describe being met with a system that abandoned them and empowered their abusers to continue escalating abusive behavior without repercussions.

Over the past two years, I have documented cases, reviewed court records submitted to me, and spoken with dozens upon dozens of survivors. Again and again, I have encountered the same court actors, similar decisions, and accounts of women and children seeking protection only to experience further harm.

Survivors describe contacting law enforcement, domestic violence and crime victim advocacy services and then being directed to the courts for intervention. Their safety concerns were then minimized, they were denied a meaningful opportunity to present evidence, treated with disdain, gaslit and sometimes threatened with jail for trying to protect themselves and their children.

Leaving does not end the abuse in Ulster County, it escalates the danger. Survivors describe Ulster County courts becoming another means of facilitating the abusers, often escalating danger with impunity. This in itself is coercive control and abuse-by-proxy. Many victims are left feeling that the response after they sought help created worse abuse, trauma and safety risks. None felt vindicated, heard or made safe and whole again.

Victims describe being trapped in a system that destroys every aspect of their lives. Many report being left disabled, unemployed, homeless, or experiencing such severe post-traumatic stress that their ability to function and rebuild their lives is compromised. Their perpetrators are left with no repercussions. They are empowered to continue their behavior in our community without acknowledgement or real consequences.

This is not meaningful justice, accountability, or protection.

From the accounts and records I have reviewed, I see a domestic abuse industry built on continued re-victimization after the victims seek help. Survivors describe Ulster County law enforcement and courts prolonging control and imposing consequences on those seeking protection while failing to hold their abusers accountable. This is a moral rot that destroys families, perpetuates multigenerational trauma, and undermines public trust.

Approximately 24 people testified publicly. As I collect additional victim impact statements, the same thread runs through them: survivors followed the instructions they were given, sought help through the proper channels, and describe being abandoned, re-traumatized, and placed in greater danger.

Lighting bridges and holding vigils express solidarity, but they do not provide protection. On Sept. 15, a woman asked legislators to look at her face because she feared she would be dead without help. What concrete steps have been taken to address her danger?

Another survivor described being strangled so severely that her neck was broken and she was left disabled, yet reported that Family Court granted her abuser full custody of her children. That account demands an independent review, not another assurance that services are available.

For two years, I have brought these concerns along with credible evidence to state Senator Michelle Hinchey, Congressman Pat Ryan, Assemblymember Sarahana Shrestha, the Ulster County District Attorney, the Sheriff’s Office, the Attorney General, the Appellate Division, Third Department, and offices responsible for attorneys for children. I have filed complaints with supporting evidence, brought survivors forward with their testimony, submitted extensive Department of Justice civil rights complaints, and traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with senators and representatives working on legislation to protect victims and their children.

Despite these efforts, local officials have not meaningfully investigated the patterns I have documented in Ulster County. They have listened to the stories of survivors I have brought to them and repeatedly declined to investigate.

After exhausting the avenues I was directed to pursue, I was forced to file an extensive federal civil rights lawsuit. Survivors should not have to reach that point to have their evidence seriously examined.

I find it concerning that County Executive Metzger thanked other advocates while omitting my name. I organized and coordinated the event, served as the victim outreach person, created the vigil, and brought it to the Ulster County Democratic Women for support. Survivors who organize this work must have a meaningful place in the discussions that follow.

I was told that I was excluded from negotiations because of my federal claims. Had local officials meaningfully intervened when I sought their help, I would not have needed to pursue federal litigation. Using that litigation as a reason to exclude me compounds the very failure of accountability I have been asking them to address.

The county’s programs must be judged by whether they protect people. A referral to court is not a successful intervention when the survivor leaves less safe. Additional funding, services, and training will not resolve a system’s repeated failure to act on credible evidence.

Judges, court personnel, and law enforcement see these cases repeatedly. On the fourth, fifth, sixth, or 20th call for help, someone must examine the pattern and act. An isolated failure warrants review. A recurring pattern across many families warrants an investigation into the institutions themselves.

I support Kyra’s Law, lethality assessment protocols, the work of other domestic violence advocates, and Alicia McDonald’s proposal for a repeat domestic violence offender registry. These efforts must be accompanied by enforcement and a court response that protects survivors and children. Referring more people into the same failed pathways will reproduce the same harm.

I am asking County Executive Metzger and the Legislature to formally request that the New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence’s Fatality Review Team review each eligible domestic violence death in Ulster County, examining prior requests for help, protective orders, reported violations, and the responses of the agencies involved.

How many times did these women seek help? Were protective orders violated? What action followed? Which agencies had opportunities to intervene? These questions require documented answers.

The public deserves aggregate findings and recommendations identifying systemic failures, corrective actions, and deadlines for implementation. Confidential victim and child information must remain protected while institutional failures are addressed publicly to the fullest extent permitted by law.

A domestic violence task force must give all survivors a meaningful role, examine failures by law enforcement and Ulster County courts, and produce public findings and concrete recommendations with deadlines for action.

If County Executive Metzger, Senator Hinchey, Congressman Ryan, Assemblymember Shrestha, and the Legislature truly want to protect families, it is time for uncomfortable conversations about institutional misconduct, financial incentives, ignored evidence, unenforced orders, and legal proceedings used to continue abuse.

I am ready to have those conversations. The testimony and supporting records are available. Will you examine the evidence and publicly acknowledge the pattern? The responsibility to act is now yours. We will keep showing up until Ulster County is truly a place where all citizens can expect to live in safety.