WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — Crime victims will get dedicated support from advocates assigned to the 34th Precinct — along with a dozen precincts throughout New York City — as part of a pilot program partnering with a nonprofit victim services agency.
The program, part of a three-year deal between the NYPD and nonprofit advocacy group Safe Horizon, will assign two crime advocates for victims of domestic violence as well as other crimes to precinct stationhouses across Manhattan, Bronx and Brooklyn, according to Safe Horizon associate vice president, Maureen Curtis.
The other precincts involved in the pilot program include Gramercy's 13th Precinct, Murray Hill's 17th Precinct, Midtown South, the Upper West Side's 20th Precinct and Harlem's 32nd Precinct in Manhattan, officials said. They're also assigning advocates to Soundview's 43rd Precinct and 52nd Precinct in Bedford Park, as well as Canarsie's 69th Precinct, Flatbush's 71st Precinct, Bay Ridge's 68th Precinct, Park Slope's 78th Precinct and the 88th Precinct in Fort Greene.
Curtis said Safe Horizon's Domestic Violence Police Program has been successful in working with the NYPD for years, and that the newer version will open up their program to help victims of all crimes.
Curtis said advocates will pore over crime reports to try to determine who might benefit from their outreach, and are also available to anyone who comes into the precinct stationhouses who is either a victim or knows someone who is a victim, and is looking to speak to an advocate.
Advocates are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Curtis said, with one working from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., while the other is available 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The advocates, she added, are trained for a month prior to being placed in the Precinct stationhouse and continue to receive training through Safe Horizon for the duration of their work with the precinct.
Curtis also said Safe Horizon researched each precinct location and hired advocates that had specific language skills to meet "the community's needs in a really meaningful way."
"To be able to sit down with a person who is fluent in the language of the person who is sitting across from you, could really make a difference," Curtis said. "More than 60 or 65 percent of the advocates that we hired speak a second language — as do many of our managers."
Curtis said they hired seven managers, who supervise the advocates directly.
“Victims of other crimes have needs: help in healing, addressing their traumas and just knowing what services and options are available for them,” Curtis said. “And probably most importantly, answering their questions about the criminal justice process, what can they expect, what can happen and guiding them through that process and navigating as much as possible.”
Alex Herrera, the crime victim advocate for Safe Horizon in the 34th Precinct, said he goes through the crime sheets each day and does outreach to victims.
“If they need referrals to housing, medical care, mental health treatments, or referrals to the local community programs,” are among the advocacy work he offers, Herrera said. “We’re working on making home visits with police offices and detectives, as another way to outreach, and to see the victims in their homes and just making sure everything is ok.”
Joselinne Minaya, Director of the District Attorney’s satellite office in Washington Heights, said during a precinct council meeting last week that working alongside Safe Horizon will provide additional support to victims of domestic violence.
Minaya said her office also provides similar services for domestic violence victims, where they bring victims to prosecutors' office right away, and explain the criminal process and do safety planning onsite.
“We help them with whatever the issue is at that point in time, the idea is that the victim can continue with their life without having to go back to this relationship because of a perceived need,” she said.
Minaya said in 2015 the NYPD responded to 240,000 domestic violence calls, adding that only 27 percent of victims call to make a report.
“That is a phenomenal number to me,” Minaya said. “That averages to 655 calls per day, just on domestic violence alone.”
Minaya said domestic violence is a public health problem that affects us all, including children, and the economy, if someone is missing out of work.
"It behooves us all to get involved," Minaya said. "It's not just something that's somebody else's business."
The new program launched Sept. 14, with the next wave expected to hit next week, Curtis said. The program will move into more precincts in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx, and eventually to Queens and Staten Island.
Funding for the program came to the NYPD through the city's "NYC Thrive" program, Curtis said.
“I want them to know we are here for them,” Curtis said. “We are here to help them if they’ve been a victim of crime, and really in a meaningful way talk about options and services and how they can move forward in their healing process.”
