Several years ago when a high-powered gang leader shot and killed two mid-western police officers, the last thing on the shooter's mind was the devastation he had inflicted upon his victims' families.

But today this former gang-banger -- James -- has discovered how deeply he has affected the lives of his victims and their families thanks to a woman whose own daughter was a murder victim. This victim told her story to James and others at a state penitentiary in Iowa as part of a high intensity victim awareness program - and it has made all the difference for James and others who have become involved.

"When I work with victims they say they are afraid to start crying because they are afraid they will never stop. He didn't stop crying for a year; he was terribly ashamed of what he had done," said Betty Brown, Administrator of Victim and Restorative Justice Programs for the Iowa Department of Correction.

Brown, who previously worked with violent crime victims, uses their greatest fears as a guide when she creates victim-oriented programs for offenders.

"I heard repeatedly [from victims] why did it happen to me and what can I do to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else? -- I use that as a philosophy," she said.

Brown's program has been able to move beyond restitution and notification to strike deep in the heart of offenders through the voices and experiences of real victims who have healed enough to face an offender population.

The idea is that by hearing the victims' stories, offenders can come face-to-face with the reality of the crimes they have committed and what those crimes have done to not only the direct victim, but that victim's mother, husband and children.

"Victims are at the core of where these men are and they have really touched the inmates. They want to be different when they get out; I firmly believe they will be much safer in the community," she said.

Brown is convinced that the program has had the desired effect on James. After speaking with his victim's sister, he wanted to do more to help others understand the impact that crimes have on victims. With Brown's encouragement, he started SAVE - Seriously Acknowledging Victims Emotions - a group of offenders that meets twice weekly.

Brown said this support group talks about the way offenders think and act, the ripple effect of crime, grief, and their responsibilities to the victims.

This week, for Victims Rights Week, they will hold a gathering for the victims that come in to tell their stories in victim impact classes.

"They are honoring them and acknowledging that they are trying to be different people," Brown said.

She added that the victim impact classes are the starting point for many offenders in becoming new people.

"The impact classes trigger some of these emotions that have been hidden," Brown said.

But the victim impact classes - for which offenders are recommended - is only one part of victim awareness within the Iowa DOC.

Programs involving victims and offenders within the Iowa DOC are numerous and varied. In one prison, sex offenders may gather to hear a victim of sexual abuse speak about their own healing and it may trigger a new healing among the inmates present. In another facility, inmates may hear from the families of drunk driving victims. On the weekends, offenders and members of the community can co-facilitate a program that discusses alternatives to violence and repairing the harm done to victims and the community.

"The next step is what can we do with that part of the inmate who needs to be healed to be whole," said Brown.

Healing Victims and Victimizers

Brown believes that by putting effort into healing both the victim and offender, the programs can have a long-lasting effect.

The improvement that offenders can make by experiencing and hearing the stories of victims is easy for those in corrections to see. After participating in these programs, Brown said, many inmates begin to finally deal with abuse they suffered as children or grief from losses they have experienced as well as the harm they have caused.

"Most of these stories are so dreadful; they go through that, then some have said they are so full of grief that they have lost their childhood let alone the harm they have caused. We always keep that in the forefront," said Brown.

Brown said these raw emotions and feelings help the offenders tap into who they really are and want to become, but she said the victims should not be forgotten in the process.

One of her goals in creating the program is to open the eyes of those working in corrections to victims' needs.

"When I came here six years ago, at that time, having victims come in was alarming to some prison folks. They thought victims would come in angry and full of revenge," she said. "The DOC will hear only one side of the story, it's important [to hear the rest]."

In actuality, the victims who come into the facilities are healthy, have recovered enough to tell their story and are motivated to make a difference among the offender groups they speak to.

"There's a huge amount of satisfaction for victims to tell their story. Telling their story becomes old to the people around them. Often they hear, 'Why can't you move on?' Their life is different forever and they need to talk about it. By talking about a murder, it keeps the person's memory alive and hopefully another family won't have to go through what they went through," said Brown.

Brown adds that the Iowa DOC also provides victims restitution and notification, like many other agencies, but the core of the program is really listening to what victims have to say.

Beginning the Process

Other corrections departments are just starting to create connections between offenders and victims - but are hopeful that in time those programs can be expanded.

According to Bruce Smith, a Case Management Coordinator for the federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, Calif., even the year and half-old victim awareness program there has had an impact on offenders.

"We make the inmates aware that they are affecting a human being with their crimes. A lot of them aren't even enlightened to that," he said.

But in working with female offenders especially, he has found that certain programs can cause a light bulb to go off for some inmates.

When the victim of a white-collar crime came to speak to offenders about how it had devastated her life, Smith said the inmates saw crime in a new light.

"A trusted family friend took her whole life savings. When this happened she said, 'I felt like I was murdered and raped.' Definitely it makes them realize the consequences, especially in regards to the children of these victims," Smith said. "The female offenders can relate real well to a child being impacted by a crime."

"I hope it will have a long term effect [on the offenders]. It's a big question," said Smith.

In Rhode Island, corrections officials also have high hopes for the victim impact programs they offer to offenders.

The Department of Corrections and the community-based agencies it works with have recently expanded from providing victim awareness, support and notification programs to include victim empathy classes for offenders as well.

One community-based agency, the Rhode Island Victim Advocacy and Support Center, serves as a liaison to the parole board and notifies victims of upcoming parole hearings and provides support if victims choose to testify at a hearing. Now it also provides the victim empathy sessions, which officials believe will help offenders change their views of crime.

"Offenders don't take responsibility for their offense and fail to understand the harm they have caused. It can make a powerful impact from a victim to hear what they have done," said A.T. Wall, Director of the Rhode Island DOC. "Corrections mission is pubic safety and inherent in that obligation is a sensitivity to victims and care for their well being."

Wall said this work is important for corrections agencies to embrace because the needs of victims are not often met.

By opening the doors to victim-offender interaction, the facility not only helps the victim but the offender as well.

"A corrections system can seem mysterious and intimidating and our mission is to de-mystify our operations and to hear their voices, whether they are anger or fear. The victim empathy and mediation sessions are not effective with all inmates; some will refuse to acknowledge the harm they have caused. But others do understand," he said. "We find if they are prepared to have a session with a victim, it can make a powerful impact."

This is also something that local jails and sheriffs' departments have begun to look into - as victim awareness has become more high profile in the criminal justice system.

County Improves Victims Services

In Loudoun County, Virginia, Sheriff Stephen Simpson has gotten behind an effort to work more with victims of crime and help them navigate the services that are available in the county and state.

The department's new position, Domestic Violence Coordinator, will focus on providing services to these victims first but officials hope that the position will grow to involve other types of victims.

"It's kind of new for us. We have had different people who have worked with victim witnesses, but never someone dedicated to that work full time," said Simpson.

Simpson said while the position is only six months old, the coordinator has tried to help spread the word about victims services in the county and provide follow up with domestic violence victims.

"Not everyone knows where to go for help and not everyone feels comfortable taking that next step when there's a family member involved and they don't always know what resources are available and what their rights are," he said. "We are there and know what is available and we are involved, so why not take it to the next step and actually help them work through it?"

Simpson said there is a movement nationally to raise awareness about victims' needs and to provide assistance through local law enforcement.

The National Sheriffs' Association, for example, has created a three-phase program to help officials become more effective in working with victims.

The first phase involved gathering literature about victim advocacy, awareness and support and then creating videotapes and CDs to help train law enforcement staff and first responders. The kinds of victims that are being targeted in the trainings are homicide survivors, visually impaired or hard of hearing, child victims, victims of alcohol-related crashes and survivors.

"We are trying to get our deputies out there a little more in tune with what people are going through and what people are feeling and what services are available to them," said Simpson, who is co-chair of the NSA's Crime Victim Services Committee. "We need to be more involved than just locking people up."

Later this spring the NSA will also award its first Crime Victim Services Award to a sheriffs' department that has distinguished itself through its work in meeting the needs of crime victims.

All this, Simpson believes, is moving local law enforcement in the right direction to provide much-needed assistance to victims of crime.

"We are public servants and we are in the public safety business. I feel this is a responsibility we have to assist whenever we can because people do turn to us in a lot of cases fro help. If you don't have your front line people in tune with what they need to be doing and what is available [to victims], then none of it is going to work," Simpson said.

Resources:

Iowa Department of Correction - www.doc.state.is.us/VictimHistory.asp

Rhode Island Department of Corrections - 401-462-2609

National Sheriffs' Association - www.sheriffs.org

Loudoun County Sheriff's Department - http://www.loudoun.gov/sheriff/

Office for Victims of Crime - http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/