>> male narrator: The Office
for Victims of Crime
is committed to enhancing
the nation's capacity
to assist crime victims
and to providing leadership
in changing attitudes, policies,
and practices to promote justice
and healing for all victims
of crime.
Points of view expressed
in this video do not represent
the official position
of the United States
Department of Justice.
In an unprecedented action,
John Gillis, the director
of the Office for Victims
of Crime, traveled around
the United States to meet
with crime victims firsthand
to discuss their experiences
with the criminal justice
system.
A series of roundtable meetings
were held in 9 states
with 30 states represented
and over 300 participants.
After careful analysis
of the informative and heartfelt
opinions expressed,
there were certain areas
of consistency that emerged.
The issues focused on both
the problems that exist
in the criminal justice system
and the needed remedies from the
perspective of crime victims.
This program series
captures and reflects
some of the key findings
of the roundtable discussions.
The series includes a total
of five thematic videos
on topics ranging
from the financial impact
of crime on victims
to victim notification
and basic case information.
The opinions expressed
are emblematic
of many of the participants
and is a way in which
the Office for Victims of Crime
has given a voice to victims.
>> So the one way that I feel
that we need to find out
how we help you is by going out
and meeting with people
outside the Beltway,
going out and talking
with crime victims,
meeting the individuals
at the grassroots level
who are doing the work
and who are doing it
for the right reasons,
not because they're being paid
but because they care
about what they're doing.
So I want to use this
as an opportunity
to find out from you
how we can best help you
at the grassroots level,
how we can best do some of
the things that will help you
get through the tragedies
that you've all suffered.
>> You have a crime scene,
you have a criminal there,
but you also have a victim.
Just because that person,
unfortunately, is no longer
living, you've still got their
family, their loved ones,
who ultimately become
the victims of this crime,
and we need the proper attention
and treatment.
>> That when my daughter
was killed,
before we went to see her,
I called the police,
and I asked them
how was she shot.
I wanted to prepare myself
so I keep it together,
and the chief of police told me
that was confidential
information.
And I said, "What?"
And, anyway, and I raised
my voice, and he said,
"You're raising your voice
with me," and I said,
"Well, you would be upset, too,
if that was your daughter
that was murdered."
He hung up on me.
>> [gasps]
>> Someone who has not had
the experience of having
a child murdered has a very
natural tendency to insulate
themselves from the anger
and the emotional upheaval
that we're demonstrating,
so a lot of the professionals
that we've spoken with
to try to educate about
notification and follow-up
are very naturally trying
to avoid being tuned in to us.
>> We all know all too well
that first it's the long trials,
if you're lucky enough
to get to trial.
Then it's the delays.
Then it's appeals.
It's the parole hearings,
no truth in sentencing,
more parole hearings.
We're truly sentenced to life.
And if you've never got
to have that trial,
you're sentenced to life
even more because
you're not going to let loose.
It's sheer torture.
>> I can't speak about
accountability enough,
and I think that when we talk
about the reactions
of the first responders,
I think that, you know,
we need to ensure that this
is extremely important
that folks know up front
what their rights are.
And when you're talking
with someone who recently
just experienced someone
being murdered, they're not
going to remember the things
that they need to do,
and that's the reason why,
you know, I can't emphasize
enough that, you know,
we need to have something
that is available for families
that they can refer back to
a day later.
>> We are simply interested
in justice being served
and not being kicked around
by the justice system,
who is supposed to be
serving us.
>> One of the things that they
constantly bring up is--
and they say it directly.
First of all, this was not
a crime against you.
It's a crime against the state.
Now, we know that
intellectually,
but it was my child
who is dead, okay?
And somewhere, there needs to be
some sensitivity to that issue.
>> He told me,
"I don't want to prosecute.
I want to plead this out."
I said, "Well, I don't care
if we win or lose.
I need this to go to trial.
I need some answers.
I don't--you know,
I've already lost.
My daughter's dead.
I mean, I have nothing to lose.
Six months in prison
is the agreement.
Prosecute this."
He said,
"No, this is not your case."
And I said, "Well,
this is not your daughter."
>> And he dislocated my jaw,
and then he tore off all
my clothes, all my nightclothes,
and then proceeded
to rape me for two--
and sodomize me, one
and the other, for two hours.
>> What I'd like to see,
and what I would liked
to have had available to me
is someone to call and just say,
"Look into this for me."
Can you--I don't know if it's
within the realm of your
possibilities, but to go down
to the state level,
go down to the county level,
to look at what the prosecutor's
doing and the investigators
are doing and make sure
they're doing their jobs,
make sure they're not worried
about their conviction rates,
make sure they're not worried
so much about how much
it's going to cost the county
to prosecute these cases.
>> And I told her,
"Wait until the court case,
and then they won't have
any ammunition
and I can get on a stand
and really tell
what happened to me."
And she said,
"When is this court case?"
And I said, "I'll find out."
So I called the police,
and this policewoman had found
out, and she was in the kitchen
when I got back
from my Bahai meeting,
and she said, "There's not going
to be any court case.
There's going to be
a plea bargain."
And I was so mad
at the county attorneys--
this was the county of Belknap--
his insisting on a plea bargain
and cutting in half what I
wanted this man to get for jail,
and I wanted him confined
because, of course,
he isn't a normal human being.
These people ought to be
confined because they
are redoers of what
they like to do so much,
and every time they rape,
they are more vicious
until they kill.
>> The organizations,
Family and Friends
of Victims of Violent Crimes,
POMC, NOVA, the--
so many of them.
I think on a local level,
educating your local police
force and pushing
for victim advocates.
>> I went into the court,
and I was told I had this right
to speak at sentencing,
and the judge looked at me,
and he said, "Well,
yes, you have this right,
and I can't deny you that right,
but my mind's already made up,
and I'm going to do
what I'm going to do,
but you go ahead and speak."
>> At the point of giving
an impact statement,
the judge, he was always very
nonchalant, but he just said,
"Well, Miss Barfield,
your boys were out
looking for trouble."
And I said, "Judge, do you--
are you trying to say that
my children deserve to be shot?
>> The judge fell asleep
during our trial.
We saw her nod off
two or three times.
There was a couple times
she came into the courtroom
and said, "So what are we
going to do today?"
And that just kind of shows you
how maybe some judges act or do,
and, you know, we're talking
about the murder of someone,
and that doesn't sit very well,
obviously.
>> I think that, you know,
one thing we need to do
definitely is, we need
to educate the judges.
We need to educate the
prosecutors because the law
is definitely on the side
of the perpetrator.
>> With cold cases, I think that
one other thing may help people
who still have unresolved cases
or unsolved cases:
if somebody in law enforcement
would at least acknowledge
that a crime has occurred
and that they haven't forgotten
and just put those cases
in the archives and just maybe
write a two or three little
sentence line to the major
member of the family
and says, you know,
"The case is not resolved,
but we haven't closed it.
I mean, you know, we may have
to go to the archives
to pull it out."
I really think we need to put
a lot more attention
on cold cases because,
as I said in the beginning,
it took me 14 years to get some
kind of resolution to my son's--
having my son's perpetrator
put in jail.
>> I do thank you for taking
the time to spend with us today.
I wish you didn't have to do it.
I wish we were here under
different circumstances,
because none of us chose to
have a tragedy happen
in our lives, but now that it
has happened, let's see if we
can take advantage of that
and try and help others
who have to follow so that they
don't have to suffer the same
thing that we've suffered.
So thank you.
>> narrator: The following
is a summary of the key points
made during this program:
Information and communication
are the key desires
for crime victims.
Accountability on the part
of the various participants
in the criminal justice system
process is critical to the
well-being of crime victims.
Victim death notification
is extremely important
and needs to be done
more sensitively.
Training in this area
is critical to avoiding
further damage being done
to crime victims.
Cavalier or self-protective
attitudes on the part
of criminal justice system
professionals can be
very hurtful to crime victims.
It is important to acknowledge
unsolved cases and to routinely
contact family members
with case status information.
It is critical that criminal
justice system professionals
respect a victim's right
to be heard.
Victims' groups should work
to educate their local police
and victim advocacy agencies
on working with crime victims.
Through the Enhancing Police
Response to Victims project,
the International Association
of Chiefs of Police
is designing a strategy
and tool kit of resources
for law enforcement agencies
to improve their response
to victims of crime.
 First Response to Victims
 of Crime: A Guidebook
 for Law Enforcement Officers
is a handbook to help line
officers better understand
and meet the needs
of victims of crime,
both victims of particular
types of crimes and specific
populations of victims.
The Office for Victims of Crime
has funded the development
of training curricula
and other resources to improve
death notification among
criminal justice
and allied professionals.
OVC provided funding
to Mothers Against Drunk Driving
to develop and deliver training
for clergy and funeral
directors, crime victim
advocates, law enforcement,
and medical personnel
to instruct these professionals
in providing compassionate
and thorough death notification.
OVC provided funding
to the American College
of Emergency Physicians
to collaborate with MADD
to train emergency physicians
and residents to give proper
death notification to families
after the loss of a loved one.
OVC is also supporting
the development of training
and technical assistance tools
for corrections-based personnel.
Curricula currently under
development include training
for community-based corrections
officers on recognizing
indicators of elder abuse,
the impact of crime on victims,
and improving restitution
management.
OVC funded the International
Homicide Investigators
Association.
IHIA is developing standard
protocols and procedures
for handling unidentified
remains and training on those
protocols and procedures
for law enforcement,
medical examiners, coroners,
prosecutors, victim advocates,
and others.
OVC funded the development
of a training video
for advocates, criminal justice
practitioners, and others
to raise awareness for crime
victims whose cases involve
DNA evidence.
A companion video,
 First Response to Victims
 of Crime, highlights
many of the topical areas
covered in the guidebook.
