Justice Department Observes National Crime Victims’ Rights Week with Events throughout the Country, Including Arizona

     PHOENIX – In observance of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, April 7-13, 2019, the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona hosted its annual Service Award Ceremony today to recognize individuals who have performed exceptional service on behalf of crime victims.  This year’s theme for National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is “Honoring Our Past. Creating Hope for the Future.”

     The Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime, within the Office of Justice Programs, leads communities across the country in observing National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.  President Ronald Reagan proclaimed the first National Crime Victims’ Rights Week in 1981 to bring greater sensitivity to the needs and rights of victims of crime.  Since then, every year in April, the Department of Justice and United States Attorney’s Offices observe National Crime Victims’ Rights Week nationwide by organizing events to highlight the rights of victims in our legal system and to honor those who advocate on their behalf.  

     The U.S. Department of Justice will host the Office for Victims of Crime’s annual National Crime Victims’ Service Awards Ceremony in Washington, D.C. on April 12, 2019, to honor outstanding individuals and programs that serve victims of crime.

     “Victims of crime deserve justice. This Department works every day to help them recover and to find, prosecute, and convict those who have done them harm,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “During this National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, we pause to remember the millions of Americans who have been victims of crime and we thank public servants who have served them in especially heroic ways. This week the men and women of the Department recommit ourselves once again to ensuring that crime victims continue to have a voice in our legal system, to securing justice for them, and to preventing other Americans from suffering what they have endured."

     “Our office is deeply committed to ensuring that all crime victims are accorded their rights under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, they are protected from further harm, and they receive the support and assistance necessary for recovery,” stated First Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth A. Strange.  “We honor all of our law enforcement partners who work with us every day to protect our communities and, today, we specifically recognize outstanding individuals who went above and beyond the call of duty to serve victims of crime or to advocate on their behalf.”

     The Office of Justice Programs provides innovative leadership to federal, state, local, and tribal justice systems, by disseminating state-of-the art knowledge and practices across America, and providing grants for the implementation of these crime-fighting strategies.  Because most of the responsibility for crime control and prevention falls to law enforcement officers in states, cities, and neighborhoods, the federal government can be effective in these areas only to the extent that it can enter into partnerships with these officers.  More information about the Office of Justice Programs and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.  More information about Crime Victims’ Rights Week can be found at https://ovc.ncjrs.gov/ncvrw/.  You may also contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona Victim Witness Program at 602-514-7500.

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           RELEASE NUMBER: 2019-043_NVRW

For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az

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