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Victim’s Advocate

Randy Martinez

Salt Lake Community College

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I was invited to spend the fourth of July in a cabin in the woods. One hour drive from

Holladay to Summit County during a hot day in the summer. I was blasting the AC and listening

to J Cole as I arrived at my destinated exit. The pavemented roads ended, and I entered a terrain

full of dirt, rocks, and rough roads. I was bouncing from side to side inside the vehicle and

avoiding all the dirt holes on the ground to prevent a flat tired. I needed clarification about how

deep in the woods this cabin was. After 15 minutes of driving on dirt terrain, I finally arrived at

the cabin. I said hello to everyone and expressed my feelings about the rough roads and how

deep in the woods the cabin was. A dog, a black lab service animal, was among all the family

members. My first reaction was, "I thought no dogs were allowed!" My first reaction was to pet

Rita and offer her a Dorito, and I heard someone shout, "Don't do that! She must maintain a

certain weight, or she'll get fired!" Fired? A dog? What is going on!?

Cari Bobo is the owner of Rita. Cari Bobo works for the Salt Lake City police

department. Cari is a victim's advocate for the city of Salt Lake. Cari's job is to support rape,

murder, and domestic violence victims emotionally. All the problems I listed are social problems

affecting our community daily. Rita is a service animal that aids Cari in showing support to the

victims. The purpose of having service animal aid with victims is to allow the service animal to

show support, detect sickness, guide patients, and deal with anxiety. (McNary, 2018) I was

intrigued by her job immediately. I asked Cari a lot of questions about her job. When this

assignment came up, I couldn't think of a better person to write a profile on than Cari Bobo.

There are many cases of abuse in the United States. "Interpersonal crimes, such as domestic

violence, sexual assault, child abuse and neglect, older adult abuse, and human trafficking affect
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millions of people in the United States annually, most of whom are girls and women." (Wright,

2023) Workers like Cari Bobo are essential to our society. Victim advocates help victims recover

from traumatizing events. I asked Cari directly about the cases and the responsibilities of her job.

Her response was,

"I can't go into detail about respect for the victim. However, there have been some

gruesome cases where sometimes I feel I need emotional support."

I also wanted to know more about Rita and her responsibilities.

"Rita is trained to show love," Cari said with a charming voice while petting Rita.

"What is with the weight restriction?" I asked because I was still determining if it was a

joke or a severe restriction.

"It is a serious rule. The Salt Lake Police Department tests her every six months, and if

she's overweight, she needs to exercise to lose it, or she will get fired." Cari exclaimed earnestly

and loudly so no one at the cabin would even consider giving her a treat.

Cari Bobo has worked for the Police department for four years. She graduated from the

University of Utah and is going for her fifth year working for the police department. She was

born and raised in Utah. She is returning to school to obtain her MBA while working full-time.

She is a role model and someone to look up to. Cari cares about her community as much as she

cares about her family. I am planning on doing my community engagement through her. I enjoy

what she does for a living and am intrigued to learn how we can show support to victims in our

community.
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References

Cari Bobo 2023

McNary, A. L. (2018). “Vetting” Service Dogs and Emotional Support Animals. Innovations in
Clinical Neuroscience, 15(1/2), 49–51. Retrieved from EBSCOhost

Wright, Naomi M. (2023). “Development of a Legal Service Needs and Barriers Measure for
Victims of Family Violence and Other Crime.” Journal of Family Violence, vol. 38, no.
2, pp. 359–77. Retrieved from EBSCOhost,
https://doi-org.libprox1.slcc.edu/10.1007/s10896-021-00348-4.
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Letter of Goals and Choices:

During week six, we talked about APA and MLA formats. I began writing this paper in

MLA format, but as professor Nielson lectured us about APA, that was my format. After the

lecture, I became an APA expert. I still need more practice and correct a few techniques, but I

use this profile to begin my training in APA format. While learning about victims' cases and the

resources provided to them, I have learned that not only are these victims the nicest people, but

we must provide more support and resources for them as a society. We are blessed to obtain an

education, but only some in our community have those resources. Some families have newborns

and can't afford diapers. My goal is to be more mindful and thankful for my opportunities

because, with my experiences working with Cari, I have seen how privileged I am. My goal for

the next three weeks is to be more involved with Cari. My goal is to create a drive and provide

victims with the necessities. I will provide these victims with time, money, and knowledge. Not

every victim has the same case; however, the resources and information can help them overcome

their challenges.