Monday Rally in Cobb County to Kickoff Crime Victims' Rights Week

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Staff Report

A noontime rally in Marietta on Monday, April 20, will kick off local efforts as part of National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, with the theme of Engaging Communities, Empowering Victims.

At noon on April 20, DA Reynolds, along with Cobb Solicitor General Barry Morgan, Jinger Robbins of SafePath Children’s Advocacy Center, and Holly Tuchman of the Northwest Georgia YWCA, will host a community rally and kick-off celebration in Glover Park. (In the event of heavy rain, the rally will move across the street, under the portico of the Cobb State Court building on East Park Square.)

“Victims of crime suffer from financial losses, physical injuries, and emotional trauma. It is our responsibility as citizens to engage our communities in activities that promote victims’ rights and bring awareness of the issues,” said Kim McCoy, director of the Victim Witness Unit in the Cobb District Attorney’s Office. “Crime and victimization impacts not just those individuals violated. The entire community suffers when criminal acts are perpetrated against our citizens. Through the work of agencies like the Victim Witness Units, SafePath, and the YWCA, communities are informed of these issues and victims are empowered to have a voice in their own healing and in the criminal justice process.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the Georgia Commission on Family Violence, the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council and other agencies and groups are also holding events throughout the month.

Tomorrow, April 18, the Crime Victims Advocacy Council will host its annual Homicide Memorial Service at 5 p.m. at First Baptist Church of Decatur.

On April 22, SafePath and the Junior League of Cobb Marietta will provide free Stewards of Children training sessions. This is a nationally recognized, sexual-abuse prevention training program for adults on how to prevent, recognize and react responsibly to child sexual abuse.

Then on April 23, the DA’s Office will host the first of five classes on domestic violence. Although geared toward law-enforcement officers, the training is open to the public.

“Violence in the home is among the most common types of crime, and it tears at the very foundation of communities,” DA Reynolds said. “We are committed to doing everything possible to end it.”