Lafayette Advocacy for Crime Victims Program

The purpose of this award, funded under the OVC FY 2019 Law Enforcement-Based Victim Specialist Program, is to develop or enhance crime victim specialist programs within law enforcement agencies to better support victims through the criminal justice process including connecting them with community-based direct victim services programs to more quickly and more effectively serve them. Lafayette Police Department (LPD) will implement the Lafayette Advocacy for Crime Victims (LACV) Program. The LACV Program will focus on connecting victims of crime in the city of Lafayette, Louisiana to resources that will allow them to recover physically, emotionally, and financially. LPD will hire a Crime Victim Advocate (CVA) who will facilitate collaboration between the LPD and community providers, assess current resources, coordinate training for law enforcement officers and other key personnel, and work directly with crime victims to connect them to necessary resources. The goal of this project is to increase victim access to services, which will increase the rate of crime reporting and increase overall public safety.
CA/NCF