The Redmond Police Department (RPD) is taking another proactive step in its community outreach efforts with its new Victim Assistance Team (VAT).

VAT was initiated by the Redmond Police Volunteer Program and has been designed to help crime victims deal with the aftermath of a traumatic event.

“Volunteers can help guide them through the (legal) process,” said RPD volunteer program coordinator Nicole Rogers.

The program currently has three volunteers working three days a week who will contact victims within 24-48 hours after a crime has been committed and basically take over after responding police officers leave the scene. In addition to helping victims navigate the judicial system, VAT volunteers can help people work with insurance companies, refer them to various local services and offer tips on how to not to become a victim again — among other things.

Rogers said VAT primarily deals with cases related to smaller crimes such as property crime or fraud as there are people and programs in place for more serious crimes.

VAT volunteers, who made their first calls last week, are also trained to pay special attention to victims 60 and older, Rogers said, adding that this is the first program in the RPD to focus on older citizens, although their services are available to everyone.

“Everyone reacts to a crisis differently,” Rogers said, acknowledging that not everyone they contact will need or want their assistance. “It’s just something extra that we can provide.”

LEAVING NO STONE UNTURNED

Carla Wharf, one of the VAT volunteers, is a retired paralegal and said her background will come in handy if people need to “maneuver the judicial system.” She and her fellow volunteers were handpicked for VAT based on what they could bring to the table such as a legal background or fluency in multiple languages.

Wharf has been volunteering with the RPD for about a year, working with the department’s domestic violence advocate and helping with the helmet safety program, fingerprinting and various department activities. She said she became involved with VAT because she wanted to work more directly with people, which had been a big part of her job as a paralegal.

“I missed that from not working,” Wharf said about her post-retirement life.

She said VAT is an excellent idea to promote the police department’s community involvement as well as ensure a good followup with crime victims. Wharf said sometimes people are hesitant to contact the police department if they forgot to mention something in the original report and VAT gives them the opportunity to do this by connecting victims with officers if need be.

“This will be a way to ensure that no stone is left unturned,” Wharf said. “That’s a big thing.”

VAT: PROVIDING ‘GOOD QUALITY SERVICE’

VAT is similar to a program implemented in Colorado Springs, where Redmond Police Chief Ron Gibson had previously been deputy chief.

Gibson said VAT is something he has wanted to do since he became police chief about two years ago, but the program has taken a while to start because he has had to get settled in the department and the community and see what programs are already in place.

“(VAT) is just another example of providing good quality service,” he said. “Hopefully crime victims in Redmond don’t feel like they’re just a number.”

He said VAT “is just one piece of an overall effort” in crime prevention, which also includes two full-time neighborhood resource officers and a new full-time crime prevention officer. All of this falls under the RPD’s community outreach unit.

Gibson said the goal of having such a unit is to work with the community upfront to prevent crimes from occurring.

He said Redmond is different from Colorado Springs in that it is a smaller community with less crime, so there is time for them to reach out to the community with programs such as VAT instead of just being reactive and responding to call after call. This was one of the aspects of community that attracted Gibson to Redmond.

MORE TO COME

Rogers said VAT will be implemented in three stages. The first and current stage consists of volunteers calling victims; the second stage will have volunteers visiting victims’ homes to help with things such as a home security check; the final stage is to incorporate VAT into a new Community Outreach Patrol where members will be called to provide on-scene assistance once an officer determines it is safe to do so.

Rogers said they hope to reach the final stage within a year.