Arizona Crime Survivors Speak - A Statewide Survey of Arizona Victims’ Views on Safety and Justice

Contrary to what many would expect to be the position of victims of crime, the survey found that strong majorities of Arizona crime survivors reject increased spending on corrections and longer sentences in favor of public safety solutions rooted in rehabilitation and prevention: • By a six-to-one margin, crime victims say that invest- • Eight out of ten crime victims surveyed supported ing in str. [...] Victims of domestic violence and certain survivors of sexual assault have the right to break a lease in Arizona without repercussions, and current law requires landlords to change the locks on a unit if a victim of one of these crimes requests it. [...] But these protections are limited by the requirement that the crime be reported to law enforcement—they apply only if the survivor can provide a police report or order of protection to the landlord as proof.8 Eighty-five percent of crime victims support allowing victims of violent crime to end their lease early, so they can move, or have their locks changed. [...] The National Victims Agenda is a set of recommendations to policy- makers to address the needs of those crime victims who are most harmed, and the least helped. [...] These policies reduce access for people at greater risk of violent crime and in most need of healing and help.” – NATIONAL CRIME VICTIMS AGENDA: A PLAN TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF OUR NATION’S DIVERSE VICTIMS OF CRIME There are implicit and explicit barriers to accessing healing and support that impact Arizona crime victims with old criminal records.