The Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney made the pitch Wednesday for a fully funded witness protection program, which she said would help prosecutors secure eyewitness testimony sometimes needed to convict criminals.
“We need to ensure that our witnesses and our victims feel safe enough to come forward,” Stephanie Morales said during a community discussion led by Sen. Mark Warner. “Otherwise, we are in this never-ending cycle of people who have to live in the community with those who have committed crimes.”
Community members and local elected leaders raised numerous concerns during the wide-ranging roundtable discussion at Bloom Coworking on High Street. Some asked for more federal funding to address gun violence, to provide mental health resources and support grassroots organizations.
While Virginia lawmakers passed a law in 1994 that allows Virginia State Police to establish a statewide witness protection program, Morales said it never has received funding.
“The only problem is that those programs in our commonwealth have not been funded. It’s up to the members of the General Assembly and the governor to fund those programs,” Morales said. “And from what I can tell, especially from the Portsmouth delegation, there is a desire to fund it.”
She asked Warner to support a fully funded witness protection program, for Portsmouth or the state, to protect witnesses and victims who live in constant fear. Warner asked Morales if the problem of getting witnesses to come forward has worsened in recent years, to which she said “yes.”
Del. Don Scott, who attended the discussion, said he requested funding be allocated to statewide witness protection programs for the Fiscal Year 2022 budget, but that it was denied.
Prosecutors in Fairfax and Norfolk have also advocated recently for a statewide program.
The U.S. Marshals Service operates a witness protection program for those who assist in federal criminal cases. Some states operate their own protection programs for witnesses.
In the absence of a state witness protection program, some local law enforcement agencies and prosecutors’ offices have implemented their own victim witness assistance programs. In 2011, the Newport News Police Department developed a witness protection protocol that could be used to advise officers of the resources available to protect witnesses.
Portsmouth’s victim assistance program, Morales said, is necessary but it does not provide any kind of relocation service to allow a witness of a violent crime to safely restart their life out of harm’s way.
According to Morales, domestic violence incidents are some of the most dangerous cases in the criminal justice system.
“Providing support for people who are experiencing those issues in their homes provides the confidence that those individuals need to be able to come forward and make a change in their lives. And so they know they’re supported by these systems that are here to keep them safe,” she said.
Caitlyn Burchett, caitlyn.burchett@virginiamedia.com
