Being a victim of crime can be truly damaging and have lasting impacts on feelings of safety and wellbeing. This is not only about the incident itself, but all too often the complexity, fragmented nature and quality of the services that the victim and their families can access.
For witnesses, services can be disjointed and unreliable meaning multiple court visits and poor support. The very services that are there to support both victims and witnesses can be anything but user friendly meaning that the experience they have of the courts and criminal justice system can be as taxing and traumatic as the original incident.
As Warwickshire's new Police and Crime Commissioner, Philip Seccombe's priority will be to reduce the number of victims throughout the county. To support those who sadly become a victim, Philip's victims charter is aimed at helping and supporting people in Warwickshire to cope after crime, and get their lives back to normal as soon as possible.
Philip Seccombe has launched a charter for victims of crime:
- You should expect to be treated fairly throughout the Criminal Justice process by all the organisations involved.
- Ensure that you get an appropriate and timely response from the police, taking into account what the offence is and how it is affecting you.
- When you contact the police, you are asked relevant questions to allow them to provide the right level of service and support to you.
- Ensure that police officers agree with you how and when you would like to be kept updated.
- Make sure you are provided with the contact details for victims' services so that you can access support when you need to.
- Ensure that partner agencies work closely with your police neighbourhood team so that they are aware of your incident.
- Where appropriate and with your consent, the information about your case will be shared with partner organisations to help officers identify additional support.
- For matters that go to court, officers will work with victims and witness services to make sure that you are kept informed and given proper support.
- If the police need your property as evidence, they should make sure that it is looked after and return it to you as soon as it is no longer needed.
- Work with Criminal Justice partners to monitor how well they and the police respond to the needs of victims of crime and anti-social behaviour.