#345: How Law Enforcement Can Help Victims of Color: The Building Bridges Project - Part 1

Real Crime Profile

Did you know that despite high rates of victimization, only 10.1% of Black serious violence victims received assistance from victim service agencies from 2010-2015?

Alarmingly, nearly 90 percent of victims of a serious crime did NOT receive assistance in the aftermath of their trauma.

Jim, Laura and Lisa have a very real conversation about what’s going on and wrong with Richard Washington and Marianna Wells of the Building Bridges project (BBP) - a program of the National Center for Victims of Crime.

Richard and Marianna explain that BBP seeks to address underreporting, improve service provision and rectify disparities in treatment and services for crime victims from communities of color. This project promotes reconciliation through a productive and healing dialogue about what law enforcement should know in order to achieve effective encounters with victims of crime from marginalized communities.

Laura asks about black women experiencing domestic abuse, sexual violence and/or stalking and what work BBP are doing to hear their voices and engage them. Jim draws an interesting comparison between UK and US police services and Lisa asks what the practical, grassroots work on the ground looks like. You won’t want to miss this.

To find out more about Building Bridges:

https://victimsofcrime.org/building-bridges-project/

If you are a victim of crime, please look at all the resources available from the National Center for Victims of Crime

https://victimsofcrime.org

#victimsofcrime

#buildingbridges

#victimresources