Jennifer McPhee
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 11/02) - When a crime is committed, police must focus on finding who did it and can't always comfort the victim.

"What happens is victims get left in what may appear to be limbo," said Sgt. Al McCambridge.

That's when Victim Services step in.

Victim Services offers emotional support and practical assistance to victims at both the Native Women's Association and from an office at the RCMP detachment.

Apart from three paid staff members, the program -- funded by the NWT Department of Justice -- depends on volunteers.

Last fall, the program was suffering from communication problems between the RCMP and Victim Services workers.

But those problems have been ironed out, said McCambridge, who commends Victim Services employee Marie Speakman for her dedication.

"I can't speak highly enough of what Marie has done." he said. "She's gained the trust of the members... and makes sure witnesses are cared for and are emotionally prepared for the testimony they have to give."

But Victim Services needs more volunteers and one problem continues to prevent that from happening.

Due to an RCMP backlog, Speakman and one volunteer are the only ones who have received their security clearance.

Without the clearance, employees and volunteers can only perform limited duties.

Audrey Zoe, coordinator of the program since February, has still not received clearance. This means she trains staff for tasks that she isn't even allowed to perform.

The clearance involves extensive background checks because staff have access to confidential information.

"I've been waiting eight months," said Zoe. "And I have a volunteer that's waited for a year. Thank God, she's still around."

The program often loses volunteers who don't have the patience to wait. Currently, she has two volunteers and only one is cleared.

"They get tired and they want to move on," said Zoe. "They aren't using the skills they've been trained for... otherwise I'd probably have about 50 volunteers."

McCambridge said the clearance "has taken longer than normal due to a backlog."

He said the backlog is created by "national and local stressors."

He declined to explain what exactly that means but said: "Hopefully, it has alleviated itself and we'll be able to process them much quicker."

He said the work Victim Services does is vital.

"I can't speak highly enough of what they do. When we've needed them, they've been there... the program really puts the priority back on the victim during any criminal investigation."