As campaign season kicks off for city council and mayoral races, it is once again time for prospective candidates to tell us their plans to “tackle crime.” However, I am much more interested in how candidates will support survivors of crime. The effects of violent crime do not go away after a crime has been prosecuted. In fact, the process of a prosecution can be a traumatizing event in itself. Many survivors of sexual assault do not even make reports or press charges because the process of getting justice is often so humiliating, stressful, and exhausting that it feels too useless to try.
I would like to see the following included in discussions about crime:
Training for judges and commissioners about trauma-informed courtrooms.
Specialized victims advocates responding to violent crimes alongside police.
Timely responses to protection order and restraining order violations to ensure the safety of the protected party.
Funding programs that provide services for survivors of crimes.
No special treatment for police officers or local officials who commit crimes, including family violence and sexual assault.
Rhetoric about “tackling crime” must center on healing, justice and prevention rather than on punishment and deterrence through fear. The U.S. has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world, yet we still have crime. Throwing more people in jail is not the solution. Many perpetrators of violent crimes were themselves victims, often in childhood (www.ojp.gov/pdffiles/fs000204.pdf) and were failed by a system that did not support them through their trauma. The only way to truly end crime is by breaking the cycle of violence through community support and investment in services.
Annie Landis
Everett
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