Crime victims should not and will not be forgotten in Schuylkill County, its top law enforcement official said in anticipation of National Crime Victims' Rights Week, which starts today and runs through Saturday.
"We're trying to do something to remind people of National Crime Victims' Rights Week," District Attorney Karen Byrnes-Noon said.
While there will be no ceremony to mark the week, that does not mean victims will be forgotten.
"There will be a memorial" on the first floor of the Schuylkill County Courthouse near the county District Attorney's Office, county Victim/Witness Coordinator Janice Huth said.
That memorial, which includes flowers, two battery-operated candles and the poster bearing the week's theme, "New Challenges, New Solutions," will remain up for the entire week, Byrnes-Noon said.
"It is in remembrance of all victims of crime," Byrnes-Noon said.
Another display at the courthouse also includes the poster and shows some of the ways people become crime victims and how they should turn to law enforcement to seek assistance and justice.
The National Center for Victims of Crime is leading the celebration of the week across the country. Center Public Relations Director Kath Cummins said the celebration is particularly appropriate in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing and the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings.
"We advocate for, and support, grass-roots organizations who take care of victims and advocate for victims," Cummins said Friday.
Founded in 1985, the center offers services and funding, and campaigns for compensation and justice, for all victims, Cummins said.