Helping Victims? Only if You Qualify.

There’s a lot of lip service given to the needs of crime victims by both law enforcement and politicians. But are all crime victims really equal in the eyes of the law?

In a July 24th story in the Wilkes-Barre (PA) Times Leader, Police Chief Gerry Dessoye seemed to blame the spike in the violent crime rate in that city on the victims themselves. As reported in the Times-Leader, Dessoye made a distinction between “true” victims and those who put themselves in harm’s way. He contrasted a family whose home is burglarized while they are on vacation to people who are in high crime areas late at night (Pop Quiz: if your family can’t afford a vacation, but your home is burglarized nonetheless, are you a true victim or a fake victim?).

In talking about 31 aggravated assaults reported, the Chief said “none involved random acts on average citizens.” Seven of these reported cases of assault involved domestic violence. Of the alarming increase in reported rapes, the Chief said only 1 involved a stranger-on-stranger situation (Pop Quiz: if you’re raped by someone you know, is it still rape?).

Chief Dessoye did say that all crimes get some attention, but he made it clear that his focus was on protecting “law-abiding citizens.” Hmmmm. Those must be the folks on vacation. But surely the Chief knows that rich people are the least likely to be burglarized.

Still, the Chief says he is not blaming the victim. Dessoye says he is “advising the victim that a change in their habits could prevent this crime.” I have to wonder what “habits” he is referring to. Could it be the “habit” of being poor, of being female, or of being black or brown?