What does the manager of the city’s Victim Assistance Unit do? - Moab Sun News

Between July to September of this year, Nathaniel Clark, the city’s unfortunate assistance portion manager, said helium served 73 victims of crime. 

The victims had been affected by astir ninety instances of transgression activity, meaning immoderate were affected much than once, and fractional were victims of home violence. 15 of those instances were carnal assaults, and different 15 were stalking oregon harassment cases. Some of the victims were tourists, but not a lot: astir visitors volition hold until they’re backmost location to study a crime, helium said.

During a metropolis assembly gathering connected Tuesday, Oct. 25, Clark gave the assembly a rundown of his work. Clark has been moving successful the unfortunate assistance portion since February; his presumption is funded by a assistance done the Federal Victims of Crime Act. 

In his role, Clark works intimately with metropolis and region instrumentality enforcement arsenic a unfortunate advocate: He responds to transgression scenes on with instrumentality enforcement, and besides works with detectives successful their investigations into semipermanent crimes specified arsenic home violence. 

“What I’m doing is getting radical implicit that archetypal traumatic experience, and getting them benignant of packaged up truthful they tin commencement to determination forward,” Clark said. He besides helps victims find assistance with different organizations successful the county, pointing clients to Seekhaven Family Crisis & Resource Center, the Moab Valley Multicultural Center, and Moab Solutions. 

“Without those partners, nary of this would work,” Clark said. “The constabulary department, successful an investigations capacity, has a beauteous constrictive scope successful however we interact with victims of crime. I tin supply the archetypal transgression country response, but past it truly falls connected the assemblage partners to beryllium capable to enactment radical successful the agelong term.”

Councilmember Luke Wojciechowski, who formerly worked for Seekhaven, emphasized that Clark’s presumption makes Clark a systems-based advocate, alternatively than a community-based advocate, similar Seekhaven: there’s a quality successful confidentiality. Seekhaven’s lawsuit confidentiality is “pretty absolute,” Wojciechowski said; Clark works for and with instrumentality enforcement agencies. 

“That’s not to accidental that I person to study each speech that I have,” Clark said. “But erstwhile that confidentiality comes up for maine is erstwhile radical stock things that are important to an investigation: I’m obligated to stock that with instrumentality enforcement investigators oregon prosecutors.”

“Nathaniel is not a supplement for Seekhaven oregon societal workers oregon anyone similar that,” said City Manager Carly Castle. “He helps victims navigate the [justice] system, and he’s a brushed abstraction for radical to onshore erstwhile they’re going done a truly hard clip successful their lives.”

One of the main challenges Clark faces is moving with radical who go bushed of oregon captious of the justness system—the prosecution process tin sometimes instrumentality months. Clark said helium tries to support successful interaction with semipermanent victims and marque definite they person support, but it does hap that sometimes radical volition garbage to enactment with instrumentality enforcement, which tin hinder an investigation. 

In different challenging facet of the job, Clark besides spends a batch of clip on-call—call clip ranges dramatically, helium said. He works with immoderate radical for little than a fewer hours, portion others helium works with repeatedly; the longest telephone he’s been connected was 22 hours. Clark gets each different play off, meaning he’s lone not on-call 4 days per month. 

“The load is huge—it truly is immense,” helium said. “It’s mode much than I tin realistically grip connected my own, and I recovered implicit the people of the summertime that I gaffe a small spot down each day, to beryllium perfectly honest.” 

Those things that gaffe done the cracks tin exacerbate the contented of victims not trusting instrumentality enforcement, Clark said—sometimes, helium simply doesn’t person capable clip to springiness radical the immense magnitude of enactment they need. 

“That’s truly hard,” helium said. “But it’s the world of the situation.” 

Clark said hiring a 2nd presumption wrong the unfortunate assistance section would beryllium helpful, adjacent conscionable idiosyncratic to enactment connected the administrative side. Mayor Joette Langianese said the metropolis does person a part-time presumption successful the section successful its budget, and asked the assembly to deliberation astir what benignant of presumption they’d similar to hire. 

“You’re doing a fabulous job,” she said to Clark, “and we’re truthful grateful to person you. I perceive lone affirmative things from the assemblage astir having you retired there.”