LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Comforting a community after a tragedy is crucial for Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
They have programs in place to check in with the community and family members after a tragic incident.
Their R.E.C.A.P program which stands for Rebuilding Every Community Around Peace, centers around officers and local faith based leaders to speak to those impacted by crime and give them answers as to where the investigation stands.
This program has been around for a while, however, FOX5 found out about it while Metro and their partners were conducting an investigation at a mobile home community where a 68-year-old woman’s body was found in a freezer.
However, behind every death there is grief, and there are questions that linger long after the yellow caution tape comes down.
FOX5 Victoria Saha spoke to Cpt. Dave Sims with LVMPD and a local pastor one-on-one about the program.
Saha: How has the response been from your community, seeing your guys being present, going door to door not just to get more information but also to comfort these people who have had a crime in their area?
Sims: That’s the key word- community its a resounding response, because you have a victim of a crime and it is that shock to the conscious. but it goes beyond that and we recognize that. The neighborhood is the victim, the entire community is the victim.
Saha: Cpt. Sims said the RECAP program is made possible with the help of community faith based leaders.
Sims: So for the police to partner with our community partners our faith based initiatives to be able to go out and calm those waters and say ‘hey we feel this too’,”
Saha: One of those partners is Pastor Fernando Anguiano with Libertad Church.
Pastor Anguiano: Even though they are not related to you, it was a community member who was there and now they are not,”
Saha: Pastor Anguiano said.Pastor Anguiano was also out with Metro in the mobile home community earlier this month, speaking to neighbors of the woman’s whose body was found in the freezer.
Pastor Anguiano: We were able to talk to a few families and pray for them. It was a big shock and impact being that this elderly lady had lived their for 20 plus years so she was very well known.
Saha: However, being called out to help family and friends deal with a tragedy is not always easy.
Pastor Anguiano: We always look at the situation, and are always praying and asking God to give us the strength we focus a lot on self care because that’s very important for us.
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