LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Taking small steps to help some of the most vulnerable among us, dozens flocked to the waterfront on Thursday. Victims and their families were at the heart of conversation, as well as the specialized Louisville Metro Police team tasked with helping them.
"We are talking about folks who have experienced home invasion by a stranger, carjacking, someone who was at work one day and was held at gunpoint...domestic violence and sexual assault," Meghan Ware, a victim services supervisor with LMPD's Victim Services Unit, said. "Certainly what we're hoping to do is empower folks."
Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg shared his own personal story of empowerment with the unit in the moments after police say Quintez Brown fired six shots at him back on Valentine's Day 2022.
"I know the incredible help that they provided me in that moment of trauma like I had never experienced before," Greenberg said. "I saw firsthand the help that they provide, not just to me, but to so many others. And they do that day after day after day."
"We know that when a crime occurs, it can impact all parts of a person's life," Ware said.
That type of unthinkable grief struck the Lowe family back in August of 2023, when 24-year-old Travon Lowe died in a shooting.
"He didn't deserve to die. He was only 24 years old," his mother, Elvira Lowe, said. "He was on his way to work. And when he got in his car, that's when they shot him, they shot him five times."
To this day, the Lowes are still waiting for justice, with a suspect still evading police.
"He was like, my heart; he was the sun, and I was the moon," Trentin Lowe, Travon's older brother, said. "It's been a tough situation. You know, if somebody does know something, they really need to speak up. That's my baby brother and he's gone."
The Lowe's said they use LMPD's Victim Services Unit weekly.
"I'll call once a week. And I either talk to the detective (or) here lately, I've been talking to miss Annie, and she's really been helpful," Elvira said.
Experts said the work is now more important than ever before, with the unit having dealt with 6,500 cases last year.
"So we're really trying to meet victims where they are to say, 'What are your immediate needs?' And 'As we work through the investigation of your case, what needs might arise?'" Ware said.
LMPD said the number of cases its victim services unit worked on last year jumped 15% from 2022.
"What justice for us means is that we represent people in times when they can't represent themselves," LMPD Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said. "That's not just through the criminal justice system, but that's also understanding that we need to wrap our hands and our arms around them as a community."
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