Why helping crime victims must be a top focus of Nashville mayoral candidates | Opinion
On March 27, our city was horrified by the murder of three children and three adults at The Covenant School in Nashville.
The brutal violence invaded our homes and pressed hard into our spirit. It was difficult to put the details out of our minds. We all had thoughts of “what if that were my family?”
For many in our state, however, it was a reminder that crime has the ability to touch any life, at any time. Sadly, every day in Tennessee, people are victimized; innocent people just living their life to have it suddenly violated and destroyed by crime.
Every year in Tennessee, hundreds of children are sexually abused, thousands of people are intimidated, stalked, raped, assaulted, and murdered. Even more concerning, the numbers are increasing.
The most recent crime statistics for Nashville alone shows that in 2021, there were 102 murders, 1,643 Robberies, 3,285 Burglaries, 2,998 auto theft, 529 rapes, and 6,309 aggravated assaults. Each number represents a real person, just like the real people at Covenant. Real people, real families, with shattered lives to rebuild.
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How we are working to help victims
Valerie Craig and I co-founded Tennessee Voices For Victims (TVFV) one decade ago. We are a crime-victim advocacy organization that supports victims dealing with the aftermath of victimization. But we also work to prevent crime in the first place through educational programs and working with incarcerated offenders to help them realize the impact their crimes had on others.
Our non-profit presents the perspective of crime victims to the legislature and speaks into policy issues for our state.
With the help of a statewide council of professionals, over the past two years we’ve created a victim assistance protocol for mass violence events that will be used in every judicial district to better assist victims of mass violence, a protocol which we sadly relied upon when responding to the Covenant tragedy.
TVFV will continue to support the advocates responding to a mass violence tragedy, as we did with the Nashville bombing and Covenant. We are currently working with the district attorneys in our state to create victim assistance teams. We know how important it is to be prepared to assist victims of this horrible crime.
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Mayoral forum focused on crime issues
While the work has been incredibly challenging, we feel blessed to be able to help people in their darkest hours. To mark our ten-year anniversary of championing victims’ needs, and the positive impact the organization has made, we held a reception on May 23. We recognized a true Tennessee Trailblazer for victims.
Thirty years ago, Rebecca Easley was a lone voice for victims, and was a significant force in passing the Tennessee Crime Victims’ Rights Bill in 1998. She made a difference for victims in Tennessee, and we are grateful for the time and heart she used in speaking up for victims.
Since we are having a mayoral election this year, and given the increase in crime in our city, we thought it appropriate to host a mayoral forum on crime issues. Following the reception, the top eight tier candidates answered questions crafted from crime victims and advocates.
Verna Wyatt is executive director of Tennessee Voices For Victims. Email her at verna.wyatt@tnvoicesforvictims.org.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville mayoral election: Make helping crime victims a top priority
