New class of victim-assistance providers join MPD

For victims of violent crime, there’s now a stronger voice in Maricopa. Six Maricopa citizens graduated from Maricopa Police Department’s second Victim-Assistance Foundation Training program on Nov. 14.

These volunteers successfully completed 40 hours of intense classroom instruction. Victim-assistance providers (VAPs) respond with Maricopa Police to victims of violent crime, such as robbery, sexual assault, domestic violence, and family victims of murder and accidental or natural death.

Jerry Good, the program’s coordinator, said a provider’s immediate first response to a crime victim is a key factor in whether a victim ultimately accesses needed services and assistance, such as crisis intervention, counseling, financial compensation, information, referrals to community programs, and help in navigating the justice process.

The VAP first responder informs victims of their guaranteed rights under Arizona’s Constitution, how to exercise those rights and what recourse they have if their rights are ever violated.

This is the second class of VAP volunteers graduating from the innovative training program. The first session was held in May with 10 volunteers graduating. Good, who is a volunteer himself, laid the groundwork for the program in the fall of 2008.

“I looked at 60 or 70 programs across the country and was able to pick and choose what we wanted to use,” Good said. With the recent graduation, Maricopa now has 14 VAP responders.

Each volunteer is committed to 16 hours per month for one year, as well as required attendance at monthly training meetings. Each candidate for the program had to complete a background check and be approved by a review board.

Good said the group feels much like a family. “We’ve all become very close,” he said. “Whenever someone is trouble, we’ll be there to help.”

If you’d like to find out more about the program or volunteer, call Good at 520-316-6875 or reach him by e-mail at [email protected].

(This story was previously published in the December issue of InMaricopa News.)

Photo: VAP graduates are: back row from left: Robin Bradley and Cheryl Borg. Front row: VAP corrdinator Jerry Good, Calli Probst, Melissa Fisher, Martina Yazzie and Raquel Saspe.

Photo by Jerry Good