To mark "National Crime Victims' Rights Week", Tarrant County has laid wreaths at each of its criminal courthouses in honor of the victims. National Crime Victims' Rights Week was first launched in 1981; this year's theme is "Rights, access, equity, for all victims".
"For the longest time, we focused solely on the crime and the criminal, and we forgot about the victim," Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said at the unveiling of a wreath at the county administration building in Downtown Fort Worth.
Whitley attended the event with District Attorney Sharen Wilson and volunteers from several non-profits.
Wilson says, when most people are paying attention to a suspect on trial, non-profits will continue working with victims to help them through trauma. She says the wreaths also reinforce a pledge that victims will have access to all the services they need to recover from a crime.
"We can't do it all. The services our community provides, from rape crisis to domestic violence counseling to Safe Haven, which gives them a place to stay when they have to leave, these are amazing services we have in Tarrant County," Wilson said.
Whitley says the wreaths can also call attention to the work of volunteers.
"I believe Tarrant County citizens have a generous heart," Whitley said. "They're wanting to help people in any way, shape or form they can."
Wreaths were also placed on display at the Northeast Subcourthouse in Grapevine, Northwest Subcourthouse in Lake Worth, Southwest Subcourthouse in Fort Worth, and Subcourthouse in Arlington.
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