'Getting smart on crime' does not mean reducing sentences or punishments for crimes.
In Bosnia, little children shot in the head by a guy who thinks it's okay to aim his gun at a child.
We want to continue the efforts against domestic violence and spread the drug courts, and develop real effective means of providing treatment for drug abusers without having to have them arrested.
Dealing with crime using archaic methods has become impossible. So, it's imperative that we change the ways to counter them.
Victims of crime and the wider community deserve a grown-up debate on our criminal justice system and how we can make it work - for those within it and for those it protects.
Violent felons and people with mental health problems need to be rehabilitated.
For too long, the victims of crime have been the forgotten persons of our criminal justice system.
Since 1992 we have made dramatic progress in reducing violent crime.
It is only with the passage of the Violence Against Women Act in 1994 that we have been able to put a dent in violence against women, and women have had a place to go.
Let's stop pretending we can arrest our way to safety and security. Despite all the fine work that policemen and women do, we have got to find other solutions to deter crime.
The goal is not to just have rapists expelled from schools. I don't want rapists transferring schools. I don't want them out there, being able to commit these crimes. I want them to go to prison. But if you understand this crime and you understand what happens in the reporting of this crime and the support that a victim does or does not get, you realize that our legislation increases the likelihood that a young woman will go to the police in a timely manner and that the police will investigate and that they will be able to administer real justice in the criminal system.
It is known that some victims don't report crimes against their perpetrator. Many fear that they will not be believed. What is less understood is why anyone might expect people to believe they're the victim of a crime in the absence of evidence.
For far too long, victims' rights have been discussed only in the context of sentencing. Sentencing is very important, but the debate obscures something much more fundamental: most victims have so little faith in our criminal justice system that they do not access it at all.
I've been really consistent throughout the campaign and since I won that I want to prioritize victims rights and I want to prioritize healing.
Victims want to know that the true perpetrators of their crime are convicted - legal aid helps achieve this.
I want to give every victim of every crime in San Francisco the right to participate in restorative justice if they choose to.
In 1994, the bipartisan Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was signed into law to prevent and combat domestic violence.
Back in 2003, when I was home secretary, I introduced the victim surcharge on offenders to substantially expand the support available and, I hoped, the protection of witnesses who were brave enough to come forward.
If you get robbed, no one's going to ask you, 'Well, what were you wearing?'
I always thought that was one of the single most important things a prosecutor could do is to seek justice for the families of victims.
