Victim’s

Advocate
By: Randy
Martinez
 Thesis
In the past ten years, the amount of police brutality cases has skyrocketed. Many
impactful cases have been like George Floyonnd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin,
and hundredths more. The rise in police brutality has caused tension nationwide. The
uncertainty brought violent protests and a strong message for society, “defund the
police.” Even though I agree with the need for change in the police department,
however defunding the police department will cause harm to other departments that
society benefits from.
 Domestic Violence is one of the primary

reasons for victims’ advocates. A study conducted

by BMC public health in five major cities, Los

Angeles, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia,

and Phoenix, AZ, concluded that more than fifty

percent of police-related phone calls were

attributed to domestic Violence (Babalola, 2022).

Domestic Violence is part of our community, and

the police department aids the arresting and

putting the perpetrator in jail.

What is the Salt Lake City’s Victims’ advocate program???
Aside from police work, several other

programs within the police department are valuable

to our community. The victim advocate program in

Salt Lake City allows people with the criminal

justice system, resources, crisis counseling,

referrals to community and victim services, lethality

or danger assessments, personalized safety plans,

or just listening (Victim Advocates, 2023).

In the past few years, there have many protests regarding

police brutality. There have been nationwide media

coverage of police brutality, almost dividing the entire

nation. The year 2020 was the peak of protests wanting to

defund the police. (Cobbina-Dungy, 2022) There have

been many cases of police brutality towards minorities in

the US. This brutality caused an eruption among

communities.
The reader may ask, how is this related to Victim Advocacy? They

were two reasons why people were protesting on the streets. The first

reason was for justice for the victims of police brutality. The second

reason was to defund the police department. The argument for

defunding the police department affects the entire community. The

police department funds victim advocacy. If the government were to

defund the police, programs like victims advocate would go away too.
Salt Lake City’s victim’s advocate program benefits hundreds of families throughout

our community. Defunding the police would cause major psychological and financial

damage to these families. Before taking this class, I was also pro-defunding the police

department. After analyzing the responsibilities of the police departments, I have

concluded that our community should have a working police department.

Many may argue that police department money will help train

police officers and improve technological aid for police duties.

Even Though this argument could be valid, the safety of our

community and future generations need more counseling aid.

Investing funding into programs like the victim’s advocate

program from Salt Lake is essential.

In conclusion, I believe the victim’s advocate program is fantastic and benefits
people who need it the most. Not every crime is solved with guns and sirens;
counseling is important to our community. Many victims and families don’t know
what to do in tough times. Guidance and providing resources can change a person’s
life.
 Sources:
Babalola, T., Couch, T., Donahoe, M., Kidman, R., Hammock, A., Monastero, R., Hanes, D., & Meliker, J. (2022). Domestic violence

calls for police service in five US cities during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. BMC Public Health, 22(1), 1–6.

https://doi-org.libprox1.slcc.edu/10.1186/s12889-022-14901-3

(2023). “Victim Advocate”

Salt Lake City Police. https://www.slcpd.com/resources/victim-services/

Cobbina-Dungy, J., Chaudhuri, S., LaCourse, A., & Dejong, C. (2022). “Defund the Police:”

Perceptions among Protesters in the 2020 March on Washington. Criminology and Public Policy.
 Letter of Goals and Choices
This section of the project was the best part. I enjoy writing argumentative essays, and even though I did not have
enough time to write an essay, I still enjoyed putting together a slideshow presentation. It is too bad I had a
statistics exam which took most of my weekend, and it was my fault for not planning accordingly. I wanted to write
an essay on this topic because not only did my perspective change on defunding the police, but I also wanted to
give insight to whoever read the paper. My goal for the rest of the semester is to make my audience believe that
there are more positive sides to the police department than negative ones. My goal is for my audience to understand
that the police are heavily underpaid and underfunded. Most police officers do jobs they need to be trained for or
signed up for. Society would benefit more if the argument were to fund the police more. The police department is
not a flawed societal system. I think departments like the victim’s advocate program help the less fortunate get
opportunities to thrive. Recently I translated a heartwarming letter. To summarise the letter, the victim was giving
thanks to Cari because for 20 years, no one believed she was being abused, and Cari was the first person to believe
and help her get through her struggles. Hundreds of victims need assistance. As a society, we should unite and
figure out the problem with police brutality and fix the situation to benefit everyone.