August 2019 | Vol. 19 Iss. 08
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WITH VICTIMS OF CRIME By Shaun Delliskave | s.delliskave@mycityjournals.com
“If you contact the police, I will kill you,” Amber’s assaulter told her. He had met Amber through an online support group and mentioned he wanted to visit Utah to hike the mountains and wanted a place to stay for three weeks while he adventured. Since it was just a platonic stay, Amber, a single-mom of two, offered him a basement room he could use, but those three weeks turned Amber’s life into three years of agony. “I was literally held hostage in my own home. He cut off contact to my family. Controlled my phone,” Amber said. He manipulated Amber to the point of making her pay his way, including stealing her identity to commit fraud. The final straw for Amber was when he threatened her teenage daughter with a butcher knife, telling her to take her own life, and that, “her mom was there to clean up the blood.” Being a victim of crime can be a traumatic experience, especially not knowing where to turn for help. Fortunately, Murray City has a Crime Victim Advocate Program, and Alissa Black and Julie Johansen can guide victims through the legal process and find support. “Our purpose is to support victims of (personal) crimes. Those could be victims of threats, domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, child abuse, elder and vulnerable adult abuse, robbery, homicide survivors, assault and DUI with injuries,” said Black. “We offer victims information, emotional support, updates on their criminal cases, act as liaisons to officers and other organizations, and provide help finding resources and filling out paperwork. Advocates may assist victims or contact organizations on their behalf, such as other criminal justice or
social service agencies to get additional help or information for victims.” Amber, who asked her last name not be used, sought out the Murray Victim Advocates office three years after her attacker had come to her home. She heard about the office after a roundabout conversation with a co-worker who was a police officer. She had never heard of the office, but was desperate for any help and contacted Black. The victim advocates offer assistance to both primary and secondary victims of violent crimes. In 2018, advocates were able to provide personal advocacy services to over 1,900 victims of crime. Domestic violence contributed to approximately 55% of the caseload for the advocates. In a large portion of those violent domestic cases where police were called to respond, children were present. The long-term effects of domestic violence can be catastrophic without appropriate aid and attention. Without the Victim Advocate Program, most victims of crime in Murray would not receive assistance and resources. After calling the Victim Advocate’s Office, Amber was told to meet with an attorney to get a protective order against her assailant. The attorney felt she had no case, but Black guided Amber through the process of filing for an order on her own. A judge gave her an immediate “emergency protective order.” “I had no idea that there were so many resources. I could not have done it without her support,” Amber said. Black shares one case where the advocates assisted a pregnant woman and her small child, both of whom had a primary language other than English. Her husband had pointed a gun at her and hit her in the stomach, and another child witnessed
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Even if victims of abuse or assault have not filed a police complaint, they can contact the Murray Crime Victim Advocate Program for help. (Photo courtesy Murray City)
this. As she could not read or write much, even in her native language, advocates assisted her in securing a hotel room since shelters were full. According to Black, “Advocates found resources for her in the state that she moved to and worked through family and interpreters to assist them. She had a healthy baby, and she and the children are flourishing now that they Continued on page 5
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