Victim protection and victim support

Victim protection and victim support are enshrined as a police task within the scope of hazard prevention and support citizens in protecting and asserting their legitimate interests alongside professional police investigative work.

Victim protection and victim support are on an equal footing with consistent criminal prosecution and should therefore be a matter of course from the time a report is made to the conclusion of the proceedings in court and beyond.

Victim...
is anyone who has been directly or indirectly harmed by an act, accident or event, whether physically, mentally and/or materially.

Victims can be:

• Injured parties (for example after criminal offenses, traffic accidents, damaging events)
• Witnesses (such as parents, relatives, caregivers of the deceased, missing persons, helpers in accidents, disasters)

Victims' rights...
have been strengthened by amendments to the law and result from

• Police Act (police action in cases of domestic violence, expulsion from the home and ban on return for protection against domestic violence)
• Violence Protection Act (The judicial protection order protects the privacy of the victim and regulates the contact between victim and perpetrator)
• Victims Compensation Act (victims of violent crimes receive compensation in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Compensation Act)
• Victims' Claims Protection Act (injured parties receive a statutory lien on proceeds that accrue to the perpetrator from public marketing of the offense)
• Victims' Rights Reform Act (amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure in favor of the victim)
• Victim protection officers (are appointed in every district police authority in North Rhine-Westphalia and hold a key position for professional victim protection within the police force)

The areas of responsibility here are

• Development/establishment of local support networks
• Early contact with the victim
• Referral to support organizations and specialist services (Weisser Ring, counseling centers, health department, social welfare office)
• Identifying legal claims (Protection against Violence Act, OEG)