Crime victims and advocates in Houston call for public safety reforms to promote prevention and healing

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) – Survivors of gun violence in Houston used their weekend to demand change.

Aswad Thomas, a gun violence survivor and national director of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, appeared on Eyewitness News on Monday to explain how the organization is working to heal Houston families and communities.

On August 10, local crime victims spoke out, demanding critical public safety reforms. They want policies and programs that will break the cycle of violence and provide crime victims with the resources they need to heal.

The organization also advocates for trauma recovery centers like the first in Texas, which opened in Austin last year.

Saturday's event, hosted by the Houston Chapter of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, is part of a national Right to Heal tour that provides a unique platform for sharing experiences between crime victims, advocates and local stakeholders.

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Thomas said he was a victim of gun violence in 2009. He said the incident ended his professional basketball career and he never received help afterward. He also said the teenager who shot him was also a victim of gun violence and never received help.

“I firmly believe that his unresolved trauma played a huge role in my shooting years later,” Thomas said. “We really need to focus on policies that prevent crime and reduce repeat crime, and also policies that really help people heal. That means investing in things like community intervention programs, investing in things like mental health and substance abuse programs, investing in building the infrastructure for services through a trauma rehabilitation center.”

Local crime victims are preparing to travel to the nation's capital in September to participate in the first-ever Survivors Speak March on Washington.

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