Every Hour in America there are:

• 2 murders

• 2 drunk driving deaths 

• 28 rapes

• 58 robberies 

• 67 attacks on women by someone they know 

• 103 neglectful or abusive acts toward children 

• 157 stalkings 

• 163 violent attacks on 12-17 year olds in school 

• 349 burglaries 

• 523 assaults 

• 1530 thefts

Many people work in the arena of victims’ rights, in many different ways.  The Pinellas County community is well served by the efforts of many.  This year we were pleased to acknowledge the significant and unique contributions of 4:  

Congratulations of our 2010 Award Recipients:

Ms. Beverly Andringa – Sustained Commitment:  In recognition of a career of outstanding service focused on issues of sexual violence, child abuse & Jimmy Ryce issues; and her continued collaboration with The Domestic Violence Task Force – Fatality Review Team.

Ms. Coleen Chaney – Outstanding Individual:  For outstanding efforts in programming and development focused on minor survivors of sexual crimes & creative use of web based technology and social networking for victim-related community education.

Officer Sergio Fidelis – Outstanding Individual:  In recognition of his survivor focused work with Clearwater Police Department and Operation Apoyo Hispano.

Soroptimist Mid-Pinellas Largo – Outstanding Organization:  For creative, consistant and community based education & prevention efforts regarding human trafficking, dating & domestic violence.

The Pinellas County Victim Rights Coalition is a group of community members and victim service providers united in an effort to increase awareness of victim rights, to coordinate victim services in Pinellas County , and to advocate on behalf of crime victims.  The Coalition promotes quality services to victims and the protection of victim rights in the criminal justice system.

What exactly is a victim advocate?

In general, victim advocates assist and support crime victims and their families, provide crisis intervention services, keep them informed about the progress of an investigation, assist with trial preparation, refer them to needed services, explain court proceedings, and act as a liaison with state and local agencies.  Advocates are also essential in assisting survivors understand what their rights and options are.

There are many different kinds of advocacy.  Local police departments employ victim advocates to respond to crime scenes, provide crisis intervention services and support survivors as they navigate their way through the criminal justice system.  Local domestic violence shelters have advocates who specialize in  dealing with domestic abuse survivors and the dynamics of those relationships, they also focus on community education and outeach.  Rape crisis centers and child advocacy centers have specialists who deal with both adult and child sexual violence survivors.  Other community based agencies might focus on a specific population or type of survivor, for example:   elderly victims, or victims and survivors of imparied driving crashes.

Our Coalition prioritizes collaboration between community organizations and agencies to remain victim focused, to develop best practices and to offer all service providers the support systems and networking opportunities  they can best use.  We are very proud of our individual members who have transitioned from victim to survivor . . . to advocates.

Where is Pinellas County?

Pinellas County is a peninsula located on Florida’s west coast, bordered by the Gulf of Mexico to the west and by Tampa Bay to the east.  We have 24 incorporated municipalities in our county, with a population of  910,260, not including the countless visitors drawn to our shores each year.

Our Thanks

We gratefully acknowledge Largo Police Department Victim Advocate Coleen Chaney, for all her hard work and dedication in maintaining this website.  To contact Coleen regarding any information posted here, please email her at:  cchaney@largo.com.

The Pinellas County Victim Rights Coalition is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.