The Chippewa County Sheriff's Office Victim Services Unit (VSU) is comprised of around two dozen, professionally-trained volunteer groups of advocates that respond to major law enforcement events such as search and rescues, fires, homicides, suicides, natural disasters or deaths related to traffic crashes, or any other incident where they may assist victims. Advocates are also called to assist first responders when needed.
VSU advocates become the liaison between law enforcement and families, make referrals to appropriate agencies and services and support first responders in a time of need.
Recently, VSU responded to a fire on the corner of Helen St. and Leroy St. that displaced several tenants from their apartment building and helped by assisting them with temporary housing and finding them resources.
This past Tuesday, VSU responded to the murder/suicide incident at Wood Creek Manor. There they helped with assisting law enforcement in evacuating the elderly and disabled residents to temporary housing and providing for other needs until the crime scene was cleared.
VSO coordinator Betsy Cronkhite-Huggett was coordinating the support efforts.
She said there is a process that continues throughout the incident.
"We get the call through Central Dispatch. They tell me what they need. I will ask questions like what law enforcement or fire dept. is on the scene. I will put a call out in our group chat and get a team to assemble that can go to the scene and assist," she said.
With the most recent incident occurring at Wood Creek Manor, which houses the elderly and/or disabled, VSU advocates had to prepare for potential chaos.
"We try to keep and bring as much calm as possible. Our advocates know what they are getting themselves into. The people that do this, they are also professionals in the community. Some are retired, however, they all understand that they can be the calm in the storm. The ones that responded to the Wood Creek Manor incident were very good. They are the 'Managers of Chaos' or the chaos coordinators. They did an amazing job. One of the main things they did that day was to use their ability to find resources that accommodated the resident's needs. We don't know always what the needs are going to be but we have a ton of people in the community that are willing to help, we have a group of business owners that are called the 'Friends of VSU' because they support us. That day, we just needed a place for everyone to gather safely and get them out of the elements, get them to a place where they could have some time to decompress that wasn't where they were at and to just try to figure out what's going to happen next," she explained.
Cronkhite-Huggett recalls VSU's first call. It was unique.
"Our very first call-out was making food for children and changing diapers. That is something we typically would not do, but that is what was called for," she said.
VSU currently has 25 advocates that are trained with four or five waiting in the wings to be trained. There is a process to become a VSU advocate:
- An application must first be filled out and then a background will be conducted. They are looking for those caring and compassionate people who are looking for a way to give back.
- To become a member of VSU an initial training is required, which is put on by the Michigan Sheriff's Association (MSA).
- Annual hours of training are required, most of which can be accomplished by attending the monthly VSU meetings.
- To apply please send an email to [email protected]
Sheriff Mike Bitnars says the biggest benefit to first responders are the VSU Advocates that take care of the victims and allow the first responders to focus on their duties. Nothing is more important in a time of crisis than taking care of those in need. Chippewa County VSU is filled with amazing people who just want to give back to their community.
