Image courtesy of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, NC

Detectives who have the daunting task of investigating violent crimes know firsthand the stress of the initial callout to a critical incident. When arriving on the scene, detectives are often bombarded with information from multiple sources, simultaneously receiving urgent inquiries from superiors and the media and obtaining briefs from officers, crime scene technicians, and various other criminal justice professionals. The starting point of an investigation is critical, as it often determines the direction of the entire case, which can unfold over years within the criminal justice system.

Detectives aim to utilize all available resources to ensure the successful resolution of a case, and agency leaders, whose positions are often at stake when it comes to reducing violent crime rates, would presumably want to provide these resources. However, one resource that both investigators and commanders tend to view as secondary or optional is having an effective victim services unit available to assist during investigations. In worst case scenarios, victim services professionals are inaccurately portrayed as another obstacle to overcome while the “real” investigative work takes precedence. This perception could not be further from the truth.

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