State Agencies Observe National Crime Victims’ Rights Week Virtually

NASHVILLE – A series of videos honoring crime victims in Tennessee will be published daily by the Board of Parole (BOP), Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC), the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and the Tennessee Rehabilitative Initiative in Correction (TRICOR) this week during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week (NCVRW), April 18-24.

 The sponsoring agencies will post a new video daily on their respective social media feeds from department leaders and victim advocates about their work supporting victims of crime in Tennessee. The first video was released today from the leaders from each of the sponsoring agencies: https://youtu.be/8i6GZtBZZfw.

 “All four of these state agencies consider crime victims in everything we do,” said Parole Board Chairman Richard Montgomery. “This week, we want to remind the community that crime victims have an important voice in the criminal justice process and the videos released this week will highlight the many resources that are available to individuals who have been victimized by crime and need our support.”

Governor Bill Lee also issued an official proclamation designating April 18-24 as Crime Victims’ Rights Week in Tennessee.

“On behalf of the more than 6,000 TDOC employees, we pause this week to remember victims of crime and to extend our condolences to every person in Tennessee who has lost a loved one to violence,”  said TDOC Commissioner Tony Parker.

"This week is an important observancefor our agency as it highlights our non-negotiable mission to operate safe andsecure prisons and provide effective community supervision in order to enhancepublic safety. Our victim services division is committed to supporting victims,their families and the laws that protect victims’ rights.”

Videos will follow this week from victim coordinators from across the state and conclude on Friday, April 23 with a special message from the departments’ NCVRW committee members. The videos will be shared on the
following social media channels: www.facebook.com/TNBoardofParole, www.facebook.com/TNDepartmentofCorrection, www.twitter.com/TNTDOC1, www.twitter.com/TBInvestigation, www.facebook.com/TBInvestigation
and www.facebook.com/TricorTennessee.

This year marks the 40thanniversary of National Crime Victims’ RightsWeek. The theme of this year’s NCVRW — SupportVictims. Build Trust. Engage Communities — emphasizes the importance of leveraging community support to help victims of crime.

The faces ofcrime victims are those of family, friends, neighbors, and community members. Accordingto the most recent National Crime Victimization Survey from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1.2 million people were victims of violent crime in 2019.

The BOP, TDOC, TBI and TRICOR encourage crime victims to post messages and responses sharing their own experiences with crime and their own pursuits of justice.

For a link to the news release, click here. 

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