KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – A new Victims Advocate and Social Services Coordinator position within the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety (KDPS) has been approved by the Kalamazoo City Commissioners.
During a virtual meeting Monday night, commissioners spoke with KDPS Chief Vernon Coakley about the position and what its duties would entail.
To begin with, Chief Coakley shared statistics of Kalamazoo crime through 2020, during which KDPS responded to over a thousand different calls.
KDPS Chief Coakley shares 2020 Kalamazoo crime statistics. (Photo via City of Kalamazoo YouTube channel).
“We know in 2020, we responded to over 120,000 calls for services,” Coakley said. “Here in front of you, you have six areas out of those calls, and these areas are about victimization. This is just a snapshot of calls for service, that does not give you the number of victimization. Those calls for services are included because there are multiple victims. One victim of a shooting can have multiple layers of victimization through his or her family. This is just a snapshot showing you where we are defining work, and where we need to focus this position to our calls for service.”
The goal of the position would be to help provide mental health services, among others, to those who need them.
According to Chief Coakley’s presentation, the position holder would be responsible for the following tasks –
- Acts as a liaison between the Public Safety Department, community, county and state social services agencies.
- Provide referrals to other social and mental health agencies, emergency shelter, financial assistance and assistance with on-scene crisis intervention.
- Advocate for victims of violence
- Follow up with crime victims
- Analyze data to identify repeat calls for service and develop strategies to provide appropriate services.
“This sole personal contact would certainly help the community, because when people are in crisis, when people are dealing with a situation, they don’t want to be given a number or an address in order to get their help,” Coakley explained. “This position could certainly mitigate and push them toward the area they need to go.”
The position would also advocate for victims of violent incidents.
“In this particular situation, many people, their voices are silenced because of victimization,” Coakley said. “Are you getting the help you need? This position could certainly do that.”
Coakley also said the repeat calls analysis would be an important facet of the position.
“Here at KDPS, we often get, on certain days, places in our community often have people in crisis calling 911 for services constantly,” Coakley said. “We can already have those services available at that location prior to the call for service.”
In addition to crisis intervention, the position would be available for victims with assistance in housing, mental health, finances and domestic abuse. The position holder would also further train KDPS officers in these areas of social services.
“I think also we can find that this particular position would be successful when we know that victims are no longer advocating for themselves within multiple systems within the community, but instead, they can facilitate their own ability to focus on their own mental and physical and spiritual cover, and not worry about where there case is and what is needed in that arena,” Coakley said.
The position would not cost any extra taxpayer money, as Coakley said the costs would be taken out of KDPS’s own budget.
Commissioners discussed the matter after Coakley’s presentation, and Commissioner Jack Urban said he would like to see follow up data into how effective the efforts of the position are.
“I think we’re putting an awful lot of a load onto one person to start with, but that’s where it starts, and I’m just so glad you’re starting it,” Urban said. “What I’m hoping you’ll be willing to do is to come back and visit with us, say six months after this person is hired, and tell us what you’ve learned and what more you need, so we are maximally effective with whatever we do. We cannot do this by ourselves, but we can maximize the effectiveness of that person.”
Ultimately, the request to create this position was unanimously granted. Work is now expected to begin in hiring someone for the job.
FURTHER VIEWING:
Readers can view a recording of the meeting on the City of Kalamazoo’s YouTube channel at this link.
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