For over 20 years, I served as against the law sufferer advocate in King County, standing alongside survivors and households within the aftermath of a number of the most severe violent crimes possible. I’ve sat with devastated, grieving dad and mom because the particular person charged with murdering their little one was arraigned in court docket. I’ve stood on the bedside of assault victims clinging to life in hospital rooms. I’ve supported family members of murder victims as they delivered heartfelt sufferer impression statements earlier than sentencing judges. I’ve witnessed firsthand the insufferable ache, paralyzing grief and deep trauma skilled by crime victims and their households.
Over the course of my profession, I advocated for 1000’s of people and households within the pursuit of justice — making an attempt to assist navigate the complexities of regulation enforcement investigations, the felony justice system and connecting them with assist companies like trauma counseling, assist teams and nonprofit advocacy organizations. In 2023, I made the tough resolution to depart the work I cherished as a result of I may now not be part of a system that persistently handled victims with indifference, disrespect and a disturbing lack of compassion. I outlined my causes in a Seattle Instances op-ed: “Why I can no longer work on behalf of crime victims.”
Two years later, we’re lastly — perhaps, presumably — starting to see indicators of progress. I’m cautiously hopeful that the pendulum is beginning to shift again towards a extra balanced, victim-centered strategy.
Final month I attended King County’s first ever Summit on Crime Survivors. The Summit’s objective was to amplify survivor voices and interact policymakers in options to enhance assist programs by figuring out service gaps and driving actionable change. This long-overdue gathering lastly positioned victims, survivors and their households on the middle of the dialog. Individuals crammed the room, actively listening and speaking about what victims of crime want and the way programs have persistently failed them.
Survivors spoke with braveness and honesty about their experiences — describing how they felt silenced in courtrooms, retraumatized by establishments meant to guard them, and left with out entry to trauma remedy or assist networks. Repeatedly, they shared how the justice system persistently prioritized defendants over their wants and the way trauma remedy and assist networks are nearly nonexistent. Their tales, whereas deeply private, echoed a broader and troubling sample and one that’s backed by knowledge. Below the earlier King County government’s management, solely 14% of a $63 million justice-related funds was allotted to companies for victims and survivors. The remaining 86% was directed towards packages for people “impacted by the felony authorized system” — a time period more and more used to check with felony defendants. You understand who else is actually impacted? Crime victims, first by the trauma of the crime itself, after which secondarily by the felony justice system that treats them as an afterthought, providing little assist, compassion or significant alternative to be heard.
This stark imbalance is greater than a budgetary oversight; it displays a systemic failure to middle these profoundly affected by the devastating impacts of violent crime. Whereas thousands and thousands have been funneled into offender-focused initiatives, vital sources for survivors have steadily disappeared. Victims are too usually left with out the trauma-informed care and long-term assist important for therapeutic. Regardless of their central function within the justice course of, survivors have been persistently sidelined and left with nowhere to show.
When somebody commits against the law, it’s an intentional act — it’s a particular person making a deliberate alternative to harm and trigger hurt to a different. The offender does one thing to somebody; the sufferer is the one who has one thing executed to them. But lately the narrative has turn into distorted. Whereas it’s true that many people who interact in felony habits have skilled trauma themselves, the narrative that “damage individuals damage individuals” shouldn’t be used as an excuse for felony habits. Whereas many individuals have skilled trauma, together with opposed childhood experiences, the overwhelming majority don’t go on to commit acts of violence.
Lately, crime survivors, particularly those that search justice and accountability from the one who selected to inflict violence, are too usually portrayed as the issue, as if wanting accountability makes them the “dangerous man.” If a survivor desires a defendant to be held in custody or pay monetary restitution, they’re usually unfairly portrayed as unforgiving and failing of their therapeutic journey. Grief and therapeutic are deeply private and complicated. There isn’t any single path, no proper or flawed approach to navigate it. Nobody has the correct to inform against the law survivor how they need to assume, really feel or heal.
As voters put together to elect a brand new King County government, I urge you to consider crime victims. Which candidate will acknowledge the ache and lasting impression crime victims, survivors and their households endure? Who will take significant motion, not simply supply phrases? King County deserves a county government who will probably be a accountable steward of taxpayer {dollars}, not somebody who palms out clean checks to politically linked, offender-focused organizations with little oversight or accountability for the way funds are spent or who’s working these packages. A few of these issues have been mentioned within the Dec. 19, 2024, Seattle Instances editorial “More bad news for King County violence-prevention programs.”
The following county government have to be somebody who is not going to flip away from the exhausting truths, who will prioritize victims, not with lip service, however with funding, management and dedication. I do know the profound injury a human can inflict on one other. I additionally know that with the correct assist, individuals are able to exceptional resilience and therapeutic. With management that understands this, the impacts of violence might be lessened and restoration made doable.
King County can now not afford indifference. Now could be the time to elect a pacesetter who will deal with crime victims, survivors and their households with dignity, prioritize their wants and make significant investments that replicate the values of our neighborhood. Fourteen p.c is not going to suffice.
