Spanish-Speaking Crime Victims Get Special Hot Line

Spanish-speaking crime victims now have a telephone hot line number they can call to seek assistance under a new program run by the nonprofit Crime Victim Center of Los Angeles, officials said at a press conference Friday.

Bilingual volunteers presently staff the hot line (213-937-7753) from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m, Monday through Friday, but Vicky Chavez, director of the center’s Latino Crime Victim Project, said she expects it to become a seven-day-a-week, 24-hour-a-day operation by June.

The hot line is part of a nine-month, $40,000 program approved by the state and financed by the 1984 federal Victims of Crime Act to help Latinos who do not speak English seek police help, deal with court authorities and get medical assistance and financial compensation.

Angela Coron, project coordinator, said that under terms of the grant the Crime Victim Center is committed to helping 250 victims.