How UCPD’s Victims Service Unit helps victims of crime

APRIL 11, 2023

The justice system can be difficult to navigate, especially for the victims of crime. The University of Chicago Police Department’s Victim Services Unit was created with this challenge in mind.

“People sometimes feel left out because there can be more of a focus on criminal justice rather than helping victims,” said Joan Fiesta, director of the Victims Services Unit with the University of Chicago Police Department (UCPD). “This unit was designed to help victims through the process.”

Officers within the Victim Services Unit help victims and witnesses navigate the entire criminal justice process, from filing an initial police report all the way to sentencing.

“If an arrest is made, we’ll notify victims about the arrest and we’ll work with them if they need to be the complainant in a misdemeanor case,” Fiesta said. “We also keep people informed of the resources available to them through the University of Chicago.”

Those resources can range from working with IT Services if a student or employee’s phone or laptop has been stolen, to putting people in touch with credit ranking agencies if they’re the victim of identity theft. Victim Services Unit officers also connect people with mental health resources at the University and beyond.

“I think a lot of victims are afraid to engage with the criminal justice system, and that’s why for me, this job is about continuity of care,” said Michelle Torres, a victim and witness specialist with UCPD. “Sometimes people will look to us to be a sounding board, asking, ‘OK, this is my plan, what else do you think I should do?’”

Torres said providing support and help for people who have witnessed or been victims of a crime is critically important to the work of the police department.

“Victims are often going through trauma,” she said. “Recognizing that is why there is such a need for these services in the police department. It’s the whole spectrum of continuity of care, it’s not just the police aspect.”