A ceremony to honor crime victims and our nation’s progress in advancing the rights of victims will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 24, at the Frost Rose Garden of Centenary College, 2911 Centenary Blvd.

Caddo Sheriff Steve Prator will present a proclamation declaring it Crime Victims’ Rights Week in Caddo Parish. He'll be joined by other law enforcement, city, and parish officials.

A crime victims’ information fair will be held the same day from 9 a.m. to noon in Centenary’s Student Union Building. Representatives will be on hand to provide the public with information on resources and free services available to crime victims from law enforcement, social service organizations, legal services, crime victims' advocates, and others.

This year’s theme for Crime Victims' Rights Week— Extending the Vision: Reaching Every Victim—celebrates the vision behind the progress of victims’ rights and the ideal of serving all victims of crime.

Since the 1980s, the nation has made dramatic progress in securing rights, protections, and services for victims of crime. Every state has enacted victims’ rights laws, and 32 states have constitutional victims’ rights amendments. All states have victim compensation funds, and more than 10,000 victim service agencies have been established throughout the country.

“We’ve come a long way, but there is still much to do,” Prator said. In 2011, only 163 victims in Caddo Parish, including Shreveport, requested assistance from the CPSO Crime Victims Reparations Unit. “That’s why this week is so important. We must seize every opportunity to educate every victim about how they can receive help,” the sheriff said.

For more information, contact Deputy Pamela Dixon in the Caddo Sheriff’s Crime Victims Reparations Unit at 681-0870.