Police Department to conduct victim/witness survey
WARWICK – Colonel Stephen M. McCartney, chief of the Police Department, announces the department’s intentions to conduct a Victim/Witness Survey from September 6 through 9.
The Police Department is currently recognized as a Nationally Accredited Law Enforcement agency. The survey is being conducted to demonstrate the department’s allegiance to this achievement and its continued commitment to providing effective services to crime victims/witnesses. The purpose of the 2005 survey is to conduct analysis of victim/witness needs and available services within the local community.
The information collected will assist command staff in identifying unfulfilled victim/witness needs that are appropriate for this department to provide or suitable for outside referral. Responses to the survey will ultimately result in changes to the department’s Crime Victims Services Directory, which lists victim assistance and related community services available within and outside the department’s service area.
Several victims’ advocates have contributed to the development of this survey and have offered continued assistance, to include experienced volunteers who will be contacting victims via telephone. Calls will originate from the Warwick Police Department Headquarters during afternoon and evening hours. The volunteer callers will attempt to contact 200 resident/non-resident victims and witnesses.
The five major types of victimization within the Warwick community, as reflected in the department’s annual crime statistics report, served as the basis for victim/witness selection criterion. Special victims, such as those affected by domestic violence, were also included in the survey.
The respondents’ identities and personal information will remain anonymous. College interns, assigned to the department for the upcoming semester, will assist in compiling the survey data and subsequent final report, expected to be complete in November. Report findings will be posted on the department’s website, www.warwickpd.org.