#WeekInJustice: Week 231
It was early in 2025 that the Communications Team here at “The People’s Office” noticed that the Victim Services Division had entered its 50th year of supporting victims and witnesses of crime in Pima County.
That sparked a whole lot of sifting through box after box of newspaper and magazine articles, official documents that shaped the division over the years, grateful letters sent to PCAO by members of Congress and a few former U.S. Presidents that clearly showed how significantly this office shaped victim support across the United States and even in foreign countries.
To mark this landmark effort, we produced a 32-page glossy booklet with stories and photographs detailing the evolution of our Victim Services Division and the role it played in reshaping the criminal justice system from coast to coast.
Then, as the year drew closer to conclusion, we curated an exhibit of some of the most meaningful archives – added a host of fabulous “memory boards” detailing every decade of the unit’s existence – and streamed the 1983 made-for-television movie “Night Partners” that was based on the work being done in Pima County.
County Attorney Laura Conover made an extra effort to bring as many of the people who have played a role in the half-century of victim support that she could locate.
“I had a thought that the archives on our first floor might be special, so I arranged for a private preview for the former administration and Victim Services Directors we could find,” Laura said. “Former County Attorney Barbara LaWall remarked that the 25th anniversary was a highlight of her career, and no doubt the 50th is now one of mine. I am blown away by the ‘museum’ that is down there.”
During an open house and news conference on Wednesday, Laura also introduced the newest leader of this trailblazing unit, Sara Moody.
You can see the press conference here: https://youtu.be/3AYZqtuNWI4?si=0LY3H1ddXVP6zCcL
In the minds of the PCAO Comms team who created that exhibit, the true heroes of the 50th anniversary celebration are those who paved the way for victim support, providing comfort and information that had not existed prior to former Pima County Attorney and U.S. Senator Dennis DeConcini launching the effort in 1975.
C.T. Revere
PCAO Communications Specialist
