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Care for Victims urges Town of Normal to address alleged gaps in victim services
Summary
Care for Victims told the Normal Town Council an informal assessment found about 45 findings and roughly 39 recommendations, including allegedly outdated victim handouts, missing appeals processes for officer complaints and limited public access to police procedures; the group asked council to require regular updates until issues are resolved.
Amy Endicott, managing director of the nonprofit Care for Victims, told the Town of Normal City Council that an informal assessment of local justice agencies identified about 45 findings and roughly 39 recommendations and asked the council to require town leadership to provide regular updates until the issues are addressed. Endicott requested that the council assist in ensuring the town implements the recommendations and tracks completion dates.
The assessment, Endicott said, was conducted in response to concerns from victims who reported difficulty accessing support, resources and clear information about their rights. "Not addressing these issues resulting [in] continued potential violation of statutes, undermines trust in local government, policing, the justice system, public safety, and further harms the most vulnerable among us," Endicott said.
Endicott described several examples the assessment found: victim resource handouts in police station lobbies that she said were illegible, outdated and referenced former Attorney General Lisa Madigan; apparent absence of a clear appeals process for officer complaints on the Normal police website; and police standard operating procedures that she said were not publicly available on the town website. She said the assessment includes an Excel document with detailed findings and recommended actions and that she will email that file to council members.
Endicott also summarized victim accounts. She said one child victim was repeatedly failed by the justice system and that a domestic-violence victim described being treated dismissively when arriving at the police station and later receiving services from Neville House. "The packet doesn't have much in it, and no one sits down to explain any of it to you or how long it could take, so you just wait. And not knowing is the hardest part," Endicott said.
Endicott said Care for Victims previously met with City Manager Pamela Reese and other town leadership, but that, in the past two months, the organization became concerned that town leadership were not engaging and, she said, were told by staff on July 28 not to expect further updates. Endicott told the council the group had requested to be added as an agenda item earlier and were denied, a claim she attributed to the city manager's office. She asked the council to direct town leadership to provide timely updates at council meetings until the items are completed and to adopt a public reporting format for progress on the recommendations.
No formal council action on the assessment was recorded in the meeting minutes. The council proceeded to other agenda items after Endicott's public comment.
