NCJ Number
93909
Date Published
1982
Length
0 pages
Annotation
Focusing on the Chicago area, this special news program portrays the traumatic emotional and physical effects of violent crimes on victims and their families.
Abstract
Fred Briggs, of NBC News, talks with victims and their relatives, who describe the devastating results of becoming victims of violent crimes. The senseless killing of innocent loved ones remained incomprehensible to surviving family members. They often felt that the criminal justice system worked only for defendants rather than for victims and their families. They found no services available to help them in their time of crisis. According to a survey by the Chicago Crime Commission, judges in the Chicago area worked only about 4 hours per day. Victim compensation was not publicized even though it was available; victims had to know about it and apply. Even then, about 44 percent of the claims were rejected. The three case histories described by victims and their families all involved violence perpetrated with a gun. Each year in the United States, between 5 and 6 million violent acts occur, many involving guns. In Chicago alone, a total of 17,000 guns are confiscated annually. It is estimated that there are 3.4 million guns in the Chicago area. No easy solutions seem possible to resolve the problem.