MARK WEINER: I became very interested in victimology and victim advocacy in college and decided to go into the criminal justice field. Licking County has always been on the forefront of victim services and victims' issues, because if the crime victims don't have rights, then they're not going to have their very important say in the criminal justice system. It's very important to give a victim impact statement so we can let the court know how this has impacted you.
CHRIS SLAYMAN: To Mark, it is a passion. He is so incredibly dedicated to not only what he has to do to perform his job, but to follow up with victims and their families.
MARK WEINER: Being able to work at the prosecutor's office and the sheriff's office back in the 1990s was invaluable because I was able to learn from both of those roads and be able to help those crime victims, to give them a more positive experience.
We were able to work very closely with some of the national organizations to make sure that we were doing everything we needed to do for all the victims' families.
It's essential for people to understand we have to be able to support that crime victim.
CHRIS SLAYMAN: He literally works around the clock. I've seen it with my own eyes year after year after year. And the positive attitude that he keeps, whether it's 2 o'clock in the morning or 9 o'clock in the morning at the office, is consistent.
MARK WEINER: I am a volunteer with the Licking County Crisis Response Team, I'm a co-coordinator of the Ohio Crisis Response Team, and also a crisis responder for the National Crisis Response Team through NOVA. It's important to be there with folks, to be trained to be ready to support them, wherever they may be.
In 2017, we had a mass shooting where several people lost their lives, including the Kirkersville Police Chief. It was a very dark and sad day here in Licking County.
We had never lost a police officer. Everybody came together, all the community organizations from all corners of the state of Ohio, to help us.
I was so empowered to see what was going on at Kirkersville, and I was proud to be able to be a part of that. We're in this together.
