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Nevada County Victim/Witness Assistance Project Coordinator Rod Gillespie in his office Friday afternoon on Pine Street in Nevada City.
Rod Gillespie said he has one of the toughest jobs in Nevada County.
As the Nevada County Victim/Witness Assistance Project Coordinator, he is trying to change attitudes in a criminal justice system resistant to change.
In the 11 years Gillespie has headed up the Victim/Witness program, he has seen improvement - albeit slow, he said - in the way victims are treated by law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges.
"This has been the most difficult job of all my assignments," said Gillespie, who has been a Nevada County probation officer for 19 years and still serves as a senior probation officer.
"At some level, I'm trying to change attitudes in a defendant-driven system. I don't want to minimize defendants' rights, but so, too, victims have rights," Gillespie, 56, said. "Often, they're lost in a complex system we call criminal justice."
Victims get tossed into the system through no fault of their own, he said, and they can be re-victimized by the complexity of the system or unintentional thoughtlessness of officers or lawyers who don't stop to appreciate the extent of a victim's trauma.
As the Nevada County Victim/Witness Assistance Project Coordinator, he is trying to change attitudes in a criminal justice system resistant to change.
In the 11 years Gillespie has headed up the Victim/Witness program, he has seen improvement - albeit slow, he said - in the way victims are treated by law enforcement officers, prosecutors and judges.
"This has been the most difficult job of all my assignments," said Gillespie, who has been a Nevada County probation officer for 19 years and still serves as a senior probation officer.
"At some level, I'm trying to change attitudes in a defendant-driven system. I don't want to minimize defendants' rights, but so, too, victims have rights," Gillespie, 56, said. "Often, they're lost in a complex system we call criminal justice."
Victims get tossed into the system through no fault of their own, he said, and they can be re-victimized by the complexity of the system or unintentional thoughtlessness of officers or lawyers who don't stop to appreciate the extent of a victim's trauma.
"In a home burglary, for example, someone goes through your home and looks into your most personal, prized possessions," Gillespie said. "That affects your sense of safety, security."
Judges have made an effort in recent years to reach out to victims by publicly acknowledging at candlelight vigils that "there are no victimless crimes," he said. He would also like to see more judges address victims at sentencing hearings to acknowledge their trauma.
Gillespie has a good relationship with the district attorney's office, he said, and police have been responsive to training sessions put on by Gillespie and the county's three other victim and witness advocates, Gillespie said.
One police officer in Truckee now calls Gillespie immediately after a crime has been committed so an advocate can meet with the victim as soon as possible, he added.
Gillespie and the other advocates spend their days listening to victims who want to talk about the effect of a crime. They explain the court process and update victims on the status of their cases. They make referrals to social service agencies, accompany victims to court and provide information about restraining orders.
Advocates may also write letters to judges advocating for a victim's rights and help write victim impact statements which are read at sentencing hearings. They also help victims apply for monetary compensation from the state for expenses such as medical bills, mental health treatment and wage loss.
While victim and witness advocacy has come a long way since its inception in the late 1960s, Gillespie said, it still has "a long way to go."
Judges have made an effort in recent years to reach out to victims by publicly acknowledging at candlelight vigils that "there are no victimless crimes," he said. He would also like to see more judges address victims at sentencing hearings to acknowledge their trauma.
Gillespie has a good relationship with the district attorney's office, he said, and police have been responsive to training sessions put on by Gillespie and the county's three other victim and witness advocates, Gillespie said.
One police officer in Truckee now calls Gillespie immediately after a crime has been committed so an advocate can meet with the victim as soon as possible, he added.
Gillespie and the other advocates spend their days listening to victims who want to talk about the effect of a crime. They explain the court process and update victims on the status of their cases. They make referrals to social service agencies, accompany victims to court and provide information about restraining orders.
Advocates may also write letters to judges advocating for a victim's rights and help write victim impact statements which are read at sentencing hearings. They also help victims apply for monetary compensation from the state for expenses such as medical bills, mental health treatment and wage loss.
While victim and witness advocacy has come a long way since its inception in the late 1960s, Gillespie said, it still has "a long way to go."
Gillespie serves on the board of directors of the California Crime Victim Assistance Association, a nonprofit agency that provides a statewide forum for the coordination of crime victims' rights and services. The association represents all 59 victim/witness programs in the state.
Through his work with the association, Gillespie said he would like to see innovative victim-support programs blossom, such as victim-impact classes and restorative justice.
With victim-impact classes, Gillespie said, defendants in correctional facilities learn of the harm they've caused victims, victims' families and the community as a whole.
Restorative justice is the process of a victim or a victim's family members meeting with the convicted perpetrator of a crime so they can find closure.
Victim advocacy is under-funded and under-respected, Gillespie said. For the last 10 years, Nevada County Victim/Witness Assistance has received a flat allocation of $120,405 from the state.
"That's not much," Gillespie said. He tries to make up for the lack of funds with state and federal grants, and with a lot of hard work: He was able to secure 43 percent of his program's budget from the county's general fund.
"It's a huge battle every year," Gillespie said.
Through his work with the association, Gillespie said he would like to see innovative victim-support programs blossom, such as victim-impact classes and restorative justice.
With victim-impact classes, Gillespie said, defendants in correctional facilities learn of the harm they've caused victims, victims' families and the community as a whole.
Restorative justice is the process of a victim or a victim's family members meeting with the convicted perpetrator of a crime so they can find closure.
Victim advocacy is under-funded and under-respected, Gillespie said. For the last 10 years, Nevada County Victim/Witness Assistance has received a flat allocation of $120,405 from the state.
"That's not much," Gillespie said. He tries to make up for the lack of funds with state and federal grants, and with a lot of hard work: He was able to secure 43 percent of his program's budget from the county's general fund.
"It's a huge battle every year," Gillespie said.
He would need three more advocates to adequately serve Nevada County, which produces an average of 700 new crime victims every year, he said. That's in addition to the 2,000 former crime victims still using the program's services in varying degrees.
Victims aren't the only ones traumatized by crimes, Gillespie said. Victim advocates may also need to seek counseling after close encounters with the after-effects of heinous crimes.
Two such cases stick out in Gillespie's memory as "pretty difficult:" the Scott Thorpe shooting spree in 2001 and the beating death of a one-year-old child in Truckee. In the Truckee case, the mother's boyfriend killed the child, after four mandated reporters each had a chance to notify police of abuse, but did nothing.
"The community really failed that child," Gillespie said.
To shake off the stress of his job, Gillespie likes to keep an atmosphere of levity in his office. He also goes running, biking and hiking whenever he can with Nancy, his "lovely bride" of 30 years, and their two chocolate-colored Labrador retrievers.
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To contact Staff Writer Robyn Moormeister, e-mail robynm@the union.com or call 477-4236.
Victims aren't the only ones traumatized by crimes, Gillespie said. Victim advocates may also need to seek counseling after close encounters with the after-effects of heinous crimes.
Two such cases stick out in Gillespie's memory as "pretty difficult:" the Scott Thorpe shooting spree in 2001 and the beating death of a one-year-old child in Truckee. In the Truckee case, the mother's boyfriend killed the child, after four mandated reporters each had a chance to notify police of abuse, but did nothing.
"The community really failed that child," Gillespie said.
To shake off the stress of his job, Gillespie likes to keep an atmosphere of levity in his office. He also goes running, biking and hiking whenever he can with Nancy, his "lovely bride" of 30 years, and their two chocolate-colored Labrador retrievers.
ooo
To contact Staff Writer Robyn Moormeister, e-mail robynm@the union.com or call 477-4236.
