Shakopee Police Department 2020 Annual Report

Victim & Community Services By Barbara Hedstrom, Victim and Community Services Coordinator

The Shakopee Police Department’s crime victim coordinator position has been in existence for five years and has been modified a few times. Besides serving crime victims, the position originally included other administrative tasks, such as monitoring the pawn registrations sites and coordinating predatory offender compliance checks. Currently, the position focuses on three primary objectives: serving victims of crime, outreach to the community and supporting police services.

Crime Victim Coordinator Barb Hedstrom supports and serves victims of crimes in a variety of ways. Her primary function is direct services to crime victims in Shakopee. Crime victims are referred to her by police officers and investigators. She also initiates contact with victims and takes calls, emails and texts directly from crime victims who have questions or concerns. She assists with updating victims with the status of a criminal investigation or court case, advises victims of their rights in the criminal justice system, including providing information on financial resources that may be available to the crime victim. In 2020, the crime victim coordinator assisted: • A family who was traumatized when someone drove by and shot at its house; • Numerous apartment residents whose buildings were burglarized, resulting in the theft of tenants’ rent payment checks; • Several victims who were scammed out of tens of thousands of dollars by a local man. Barb also helps crime victims by addressing victims’ needs in a larger perspective within the police department. She plays a role in educating new police officers about working with crime victims. She helps bring victim-centered training opportunities to the department, like the POST-approved course by the Minnesota Elder Justice Center on identifying and interviewing cases of elder abuse. She shares new community resources with officers so they can help people in our community. The police department’s support for victims can also be seen by the community coordinating organizations that we participate in, such as the Scott County Sexual Assault Response Team and Tribes United Against Sex Trafficking. Barb recently become a board member with the Minnesota Alliance on Crime, which is a coalition that educates and supports crime victim services professionals, who help crime victims all over Minnesota. As one of the few law enforcement-based victim service professionals in the state of Minnesota, Barb continues to envision more ways to help crime victims—both within our police department and as a resource to other law enforcement agencies who are interested in creating a victim services position within their departments. Many of the crime victim coordinator’s roles continue to evolve as the needs of our department and community develop and change. We can’t wait to see what the next five years bring.

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