Reading Hosts Walk to Raise Crime Victim Awareness
Preventing crime begins with awareness and finding ways to deal with violence through nonviolent actions. Reading, PA recently hosted a walk involving hundreds of participants on April 24, 2010 to advocate violent crime prevention and provide a space for victims of violent crimes to join together and also remember those who lost their lives due to violence.
According to a news report covering the event, several different families of victims and victim advocate groups took part in the Crime Victims Walk in West Redding. In taking to the streets peacefully yet passionately, the group of participants hoped to make it known that victims are not alone and that a substantial amount of support does in fact exist and is available.
The Crime Victims Walk served as a reminder of how important it is for friends and families of victims to receive assistance not just immediately after a crime takes place, but on a consistent basis that correlates with the often long-lasting duration of healing and coping with the consequences of violence, assault and abuse.
In sharing their message of crime prevention and awareness to the community of Reading, participants emphasized how essential it is for people out and about in the city to pay attention to their surroundings. Becoming a victim of a crime is something that no one ever expects will happen to them, and hopefully it never does. However, being naïve about potential risks and dangers does no one any justice. The Crime Victims Walk took place also as a way for crime victims not to be forgotten. While acts of violence are unpleasant to relive for anyone, others can benefit from the details of a crime when it is presented in such a way that provides potential actions for a person to avoid certain predicaments or get out of one.
The coordinator of the Crime Victims Walk mentioned the importance of teaching children at a young age the value of solving conflicts through peaceful behavior to help them “become adults who live in a nonviolent way.”
Although Reading, PA is a safe community, it is still prone to the same crimes that bigger cities like Philadelphian and New York City experience. Crime statistics for Reading in 2003 revealed that 946 violent crimes were known to have taken place to law enforcement. This representative number of offenses does not include unreported crimes.
Victims of violent crimes in Reading and throughout the state of Pennsylvania have valid and important legal rights that may entitle a person to compensation, restitution, or access to various resources that provide information about their assailant and their own personal safety. Some of the most sought after means for crime victims based on Pennsylvania crime victim rights have to do with two funds distributed based on statute 11.1101 – Victim Witness Services Fund and the Crime Victim Compensation Fund.
