Group advocates for passage of bipartisan VICTIM Act
Contributed Photo: Rep. Tom O’Halleran speaks in support of the VICTIM Act at an event in Washington D.C. on Thursday.
Contributed Article
WASHINGTON D.C. – Yesterday, Congressman Tom O’Halleran (AZ-01) joined Rep. Val Demings (FL-10), colleagues, and law enforcement representatives to speak out on the national increase in violent crime and the need for leadership at all levels to keep communities safe.
The O’Halleran-supported VICTIM Act increases funding for hardworking local and tribal police departments, helping to hire, train, and keep good detectives and victim services workers to better provide the needed resources to catch criminals.
Standing with his colleagues, Rep. O’Halleran said, “As a young officer working in Chicago, I had to knock on the doors of too many mothers and tell them their child had been lost to an act of senseless violence. In my years as a homicide detective, my young son refused to go to bed until he knew I was home safe; I worked most nights until two in the morning. There are two sides to this coin. Officers and those they serve both want safe, supported communities, and Americans deserve officers that are held to the highest standards. To achieve these goals, I’m proud to stand with my colleagues in support of our commonsense, bipartisan VICTIM Act: legislation that sets aside funding to hire, train, and keep good detectives and victim services workers to better provide the needed resources to catch criminals and keep families safe.”
Said Rep. Demings, “Our number one priority has to be the reduction of violent crime. And we also have to make sure that we keep crime guns out of the hands of people who should not have them in the first place. We have to invest in those social ills that cause decay in communities in the first place. It’s about investing in our schools today, so we won’t have to invest in our prisons tomorrow. We must invest in our police departments. When we take the time to talk to communities, particularly those in high crime areas, they say ‘we want to fund the police.’ In Congress, we spend a lot of time and energy on issues that simply don’t matter. We should all be able to come together on this issue. Public safety is the foundation on which we build great communities. Is anyone really opposed to getting more murderers off our streets? I thank all of my colleagues and partners in law enforcement for joining us today on this important effort.”
