The Mayor’s Victim Assistance Advisory Council (VAAC) is a 27-member council whose purpose, according to the City Of Jacksonville website, is to “coordinate and encourage cooperative efforts among social service, criminal justice, mental health, and other agencies to provide assistance to crime victims and their families.”
At the press conference today, multiple people spoke about the importance of VAAC including both the director Mark Romero, as well as Chevy Green, who was a survivor of violence through her cousin Jerry Brown who was shot to death in 2016. He was 22 and his case remains unsolved. “In a split second, it hit his artery and he was bled out,” Green said with a tremble in her voice and struggling to hold back tears. Romero said, “Healing won’t happen in interview rooms, it won’t happen in police stations, and it won’t happen in courtrooms.”
This week is also National Crime Victims’ Rights Week and according to their website, this year’s theme is ‘Survivor Voices: Elevate. Engage. Effect Change. This year’s theme calls upon communities to amplify the voices of survivors and create environments where survivors have the confidence that they will be heard, believed, and supported.”