Law officials pay respect to violent-crime victims

In July 2002, Ralph Lee Lape was abducted, taken to New Madrid County, shot and buried in a shallow grave.

For Lape's sister, Diane Miller, a flower ceremony held Tuesday at Cape Girardeau County Park honoring victims of crime has been an important part of her healing process.

"We've come every year since Ralph's death and it's been wonderful," said Miller. "For me it's really important, because you don't forget about something like that. People get back in their routines and things go back to normal, but it never goes away."

Miller was joined Tuesday by county prosecuting attorney Morley Swingle, Missouri attorney general Jay Nixon, members of local law enforcement and dozens of victims, friends and relatives of victims for a victims' rights ceremony.

The ceremony involved a moving tribute. One by one, members of the audience came forward to take a flower and offer a few words about a crime that touched their lives.

Those present were asked to remember that every hour in the U.S., two people are murdered, 510 assaulted, and 1,672 robbed.

But during his remarks, Nixon said that doesn't tell the whole. "All the statistics and data on crime do not carry a fraction of the impact of one story of a crime victim," he said.

Nixon said helping victims of violent crime has been at the top of his priority list since taking office in 1992. He pointed to the victim's rights constitutional amendment passed in that same year. The amendment allows for better notification, input, and protection for victims and said Nixon marked a key step forward for the state.

"It is no accident that since the amendment passed, crime has dropped in this state," said Nixon. "Getting victims involved in the system has made a real and lasting difference. This is a task that law enforcement cannot do without the full support of victims and other citizens."

Swingle added that no degree of safety is possible without strong law enforcement. "It's no accident that the shape of their badge is a shield," he said. "It goes back to medieval times when knights would put on their armor, get their shields and protect the villagers."

Swingle said no one should forget the sacrifices officers make. "They have taken an oath to run towards the sound of gunfire instead of away from it. They go out and combat and if necessary kill the wolves that are out there," said Swingle.

tgreaney@semissourian.com

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