Sacramento, CA – Unbeknownst to the Prosecutors Alliance that sponsored Monday’s press conference where a number of crime survivors told their stories, their event would coincide with a caravan demonstration by the People’s Convoy, protesting vaccine mandates and other causes.

The dynamic put a number of people into close proximity with the pre-planned press conference and generated heckling and shouting that at times was triggering to a number of the crime survivors already traumatized by their experience.

The press conference brought together DAs, state legislators and survivors of crime to announce the findings of a survey of 711 victims of crime and to discuss important initiatives necessary to enhance California’s approach to helping victims heal.

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A survey of 711 victims of crime in California by the Prosecutors Alliance Center for Survivor Policy found that most participants were victims of multiple violent crimes and nearly 40 percent had not been offered victims’ compensation, reports Davis Vanguard. Fifty-five percent of respondents said they did not have money to pay for out-of-pocket expenses like mental health or relocation, so they opted not to access services or to move as a result, with twenty-five respondents actually turning to fundraising in order to pay for expenses. Survivors reported needing more support, not just immediately after the crime, but for a significant time after the crime and outside of business hours.

Survivors surveyed also wanted access to needed resources for healing and recovery, regardless of who or how they were harmed. Thirty percent of participants discussed barriers for them or family members due to probation, parole status or those who had experienced violence at the hands of law enforcement. While 66 percent of respondents said restitution was ordered, respondents reported that payments were slow and unpredictable, and many never received enough to make them whole from their financial losses. That reality resulted in one of the survivor recommendations being to reform restitution such that survivors are paid upfront regardless of an offender’s capacity to pay.

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(KTXL) — After the deadly mass shooting in downtown Sacramento, some are demanding change at the state Capitol.

Victims of crime are pushing for legislation that would help survivors during investigations.

Claudette Stefanian spoke with Cristine Deberry, executive director of Prosecutors Alliance, about victims’ needs.

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) — Two weeks after the downtown Sacramento shooting, some groups are urging state lawmakers to step up resources for crime victims.

A new study released on Monday shows many victims aren’t being provided with the services and compensation they need. That new study showed nearly half of the more than 700 crime victims surveyed say they weren’t offered restitution.

Crime victims FOX40 spoke with said the lack of resources and services means a lack of healing.

“I shouldn’t have to be speaking and being her voice, but this is the life forced upon me by the person who killed my daughter,” said Jenifer Redmond, whose daughter was murdered in 2020.

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MARTINEZ, Calif. – A group of progressive prosecutors has asked the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors to audit the disciplinary practices at the Sheriff’s Office and increase outside oversight of misconduct after KTVU first reported that the sheriff wrote a letter to staff about his disdain for a judge sentencing one of his former deputies to six years in prison after killing a man. 

“Sheriff [David] Livingston’s comments are abhorrent and indicate his belief that deputies who kill are above the law,” said Cristine Soto DeBerry, founder and director of the Prosecutors Alliance of California, which sent the letter on Monday.

“Police have wide latitude to use force, but when they unnecessarily kill they must be held accountable just like anyone else in our community,” DeBerry continued. “When we do not hold police accountable, people do not trust the legal system to protect them. That makes the job of policing more difficult and dangerous, and it makes it far less likely that crimes will be reported. That, in turn, poses a threat to everyone’s safety.”

In addition, DeBerry also told the supervisors that she and her colleagues find it very concerning that under Livingston, the Internal Affairs investigation cleared Hall from any wrongdoing. Plus, she wrote, if the sheriff is clearing deputies in cases where their use of force was criminal, “that too raises serious questions about the sheriff’s commitment to public safety and accountability.”