This article discusses a Formation Evaluation regarding the development of law enforcement-based victim services programs; it is authored by a research criminologist, public health analyst, and a senior project manager.
This Police Chief Magazine article discusses the role of law enforcement-based victim services personnel, and how they have unique access to law enforcement agency personnel, crime reports and processes, and victims, during crucial intersection points. The authors describe the development of the Law Enforcement-Based Victim Services (LEV) program by the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), to support agencies in developing new or enhancing existing victim services, and they note an effort by RTI International and the IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police) to fill a research gap that will inform the development of LEV programs by describing the essential elements of a LEV program. This article reports on that effort by RTI International and the IACP; it describes the importance of a Formative Evaluation of the LEV program, as well as evaluation discoveries about agency size, program types, supervisor and staff types, and added value provided by the LEV program.