Silent servants

That´s a small part of the training for Lansing’s Victim Advocate Program, an all-volunteer force that speeds to trauma scenes alongside police to help grieving survivors.

The best thing to do is to just listen — and sometimes laugh, according to Michelle Taylor, a two-year veteran of the program.

“You´ll be sitting there with the family and they’ll start remembering the person and laughing,” Taylor said. “Sometimes they´ve had me cracking up with them waiting for the medical examiner. It’s amazing, the tenacity and strength of some families.”

The 20-year-old program is in dire need of help this year with only 13 volunteers on-call, according its coordinator, Lt. Ryan Cressman. (Full strength would be 25 to 30.)

Many shifts pass without incident, but a volunteer could be called out of bed into a snowy accident or the scene of a homicide at 2 a.m. Advocates serve two 24-hour oncall shifts a month.

Cressman said advocates connect survivors with whatever they need, from funeral homes to insurance or veteran benefits to counselors. Most calls are serious or fatal accidents, suicides, homicides, sudden natural deaths and serious injuries.

“It could be any time where families wonder, ‘What do I do next?’ and need some help,” Cressman said.

Cressman respects volunteers for the job they do.

“I get paid to go to these calls and deal with this stuff,” he said. “Those folks don´t get pay or recognition. It’s an internal reward. To me, they´re silent servants. They’re not in it for any other thing but to know they´re helping people.”

All large cities, and most medium-sized ones, have such programs, Cressman said. Many counties, including Ingham County, have them.

Taylor joined the program after the daughter of a close friend was murdered. Her friend spent the first few hours after getting the news of the death completely alone.

Taylor said her 40-call career has taught her that families get little comfort from watching police, medical examiners and detectives tramping in and out of the house. Advocates explain the steps of the response process and how long it usually takes.

“They´re just sitting there, watching what´s happening,” Taylor said. “They feel like they’ve lost control and we try to give that back to them.”

Advocates might explain how survivors should tell a child about a parent’s suicide or fatal accident.

Twice, Taylor has been to a scene where a child was the victim. She called the school district and told them about the death, to save the parents from making the heart-breaking phone call or, even worse, fielding a “where is your kid?” inquiry from the district the next day.

Sometimes people freeze up and don´t want to talk with anyone. In such cases, advocates leave a contact number and some pertinent information and leave the scene. They might also find a neighbor or friend who can absorb the information. Often, Taylor said, a family member will call the next day, when the shock has receded, and thank the advocate for being there.

Advocates range in age from college students to retirees.

LPD volunteer coordinator Margaret Barnes cautioned that the program is not a platform for amateur sleuths. (They´ve had a few who thought it was.)

“We´re not there to spy for the police,” Barnes said.

After a phone interview, an online application and a basic background check, new advocates undergo a 20-hour training session run by the Michigan Sheriffs’ Association that covers the stages of grief, police protocol, victims’ rights and other pertinent information. Advocates also take online lessons through the National Organization for Victim Assistance. For the first few calls, new volunteers shadow a more experienced volunteer. The department provides a cell phone, blue shirts and jackets with the program´s logo and resource kits.

For safety reasons, volunteers always go in pairs with a police officer. Because of the shortage, two advocates are not always available.

“I don´t even want to know how many calls we haven´t been able to respond to,” Barnes said. “It’s too depressing.”

When that happens, officers take care of victims’ families as best they can, but are always pressed for time.

Taylor has worked at Ele’s Place, which provides support for grieving children, and other volunteer organizations, but she said that working as a victim advocate is the most rewarding volunteer experience she´s had.

Cressman has heard the same thing from others.

“You´re meeting a need at the most critical moment in people´s lives,” Cressman said. “It’s very rewarding.”

Taylor wasn´t sure she could handle trauma scenes at first, but compared the experience to swimming.

“You don´t know until you get into it,” she said.

“Don´t think you can´t do it,” Taylor said. “Don´t let an education level or economics or anything discourage you. All you have to do is be a healing person. You don´t have to have the answers. You have to be willing to sit there and listen.”

How to volunteer

Anyone interested in becoming a victim advocate for the Lansing Police Department should call volunteer coordinator Margaret Barnes at 483-6022.