National Crime Victims’ Rights Week

All this week, community leaders nationwide are observing the rights of victims of violent crimes.

News 25’s Kristen Durand shows us how the District Attorney’s Office in Gulfport plans on honoring these victims in an effort to shine a light on their rights and restore hope to their families.

In his 15 years of experience working in the District Attorney’s Office, Joel Smith has seen firsthand the trauma that victims of violent crime not only experience but also have to relive as they go through the dramatic process of seeing their case through to justice. “When they have to retell it to strangers, to jurors, judges and that can be a very traumatic event that often times causes them to have emotional and psychological setbacks,” said Smith.

That’s why the District Attorney’s Office is hosting a candlelight vigil shining a light on victims of crime and their families, capping off National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. “It’s an opportunity for them to remember their lost loved ones and it’s also an opportunity to push for victims’ rights, to push for that expansion and for the protection of victims’ rights,” said Smith.

The vigil also serves as an opportunity to honor those in the field of victims’ rights, the community activists and law enforcement officers that put their lives on the line in pursuit of justice. Assistant District Attorney Alison Baker said, “They work tirelessly to help with these cases. If it were not for the police officers who investigate the crimes then the victims would never have their story told or have the right to hold their perpetrator accountable.”

The candlelight vigil will be held at First Baptist Church in Gulfport this Friday at 11 a.m.