INDEPENDENT NEWSMEDIA
A nonprofit organization supporting the Phoenix Police Department has begun a capital campaign to renovate the victim center at the Family Investigations Bureau on North Central Avenue in downtown.
The Phoenix Police Foundation is looking to raise $550,000 to remodel and upgrade the center to “provide more dignity and respect as well as a more welcoming environment for those seeking aid,” a release announcing the fund drive stated.
The goals of the project are to create warmer interview rooms and add more privacy with a pass-through entryway into the forensic nurse examination rooms, the release stated.
“The Phoenix Police Foundation is extremely proud to partner with the Phoenix Police Department, the City of Phoenix and our donor partners to create a new center for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. The new victim center will provide a better environment to help victims in their time of need and to help bring their abusers to justice,” Timothy Thomas, president and CEO of the Phoenix Police Foundation, said.
Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego added: “Trauma-informed care practices have advanced over the years, and we need to make sure that the residents of Phoenix have a proper space if they ever need to report a crime. We are looking forward to embarking on a project that can bring even a little peace during some of the darkest moments of a person’s life.”
The Phoenix Police Department’s Family Investigations Bureau sees more than 2,400 sexual assault and domestic violence victims each year, officials said.
Funds for the victim’s center will be collected by the Phoenix Police Foundation until the completion of the remodel.
“Through private funding from individual, foundation and corporate partners, the Phoenix Police Foundation believes a project of this size could be completed more quickly,” the release stated.
Councilwoman Ann O’Brien, who is representative of Council District 1 and the chair of the public safety and justice subcommittee in Phoenix, said the project “is going to help so many people and it is only through generous donors and the efforts of city officials and civil servants that we can make this happen.
“We are proud of the partnership forged with the city, the Phoenix Police Department and the Phoenix Police Foundation that will help renovate and renew this victim’s center.”
For more information on the victim center, to receive updates on renovation progress or to donate, visit www.phoenixpolicefoundation.org/donation-victims.
