COUNTYWIDE : D.A.’s Office Cancels Victims’ Workshops

Ventura County officials said they may have been too late in their effort to help victims of violent crime cope during the holidays.

The victim services division of the district attorney’s office canceled two workshops for victims of violent crime, which had been scheduled for last Thursday and today, because too few people signed up, victims’ advocate Marianne Miller said. She said the sessions should have been held before Thanksgiving.

“They’re already in the holidays,” Miller said, referring to people who have had a relative murdered or who have been a victim of violence during the past year. “It may be too late for them to learn different coping mechanisms.”

Miller said she would advise people who have had a friend or relative who was killed “to keep a positive memory of your loved one alive, especially at the holidays.”

She also suggested that crime victims take pressure off themselves during the holidays, perhaps by buying fewer gifts, by not sending greeting cards, or by taking a vacation.

For more information on victim services, call 654-3622.