This resource discusses an investigation to explore the scope and nature of law enforcement-based victim services (LEV) through a series of interconnected activities, including surveying law enforcement agencies, interviewing survey respondents, and more, to explore the extent of victim services in law enforcement, its benefits to victims and agencies, factors in success, and sustainability challenges.
This resource describes the data collection methodology and analysis of law enforcement-based victim services (LEV), from a project which collected survey results that expanded on the 2016 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey of the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The project findings suggested that while there was no one ideal blueprint for LEV, some aspects did apply to a majority of the programs. All LEV programs included in the study used nonsworn professional staff to provide direct victim services, and 71 percent of responding agencies stated they provided aid to victims through a specialized unit. The resource lays out the survey parameters and methodologies, and presents a summary of the findings. It lists the services that respondents stated they provided most often to victims, and discusses the benefits of LEV programs, noting that the primary beneficiaries are the victims themselves, as well as family members of homicide victims. LEV programs also resulted in a commonly reported benefit of improved agency efficiency, due to defined roles for officers and victim services staff that allow for each to focus on their own priorities. Increased victim engagement throughout investigation and prosecution, and improved community relations were two other reported benefits of implementing a LEV program. Some key factors for success listed include leadership support, fostering personal relationships among supervisors and LEV staff, firsthand experience, and clearly defined roles and policies and procedures.