Suffolk crime victims were remembered, and the work of those who support them was honored, during the Suffolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Crime Victims’ Rights Week ceremony on Tuesday.

The office’s Victim/Witness Services division celebrates its 30th year of full-time operation this year. In 1986, state and federal funding made the position full-time, but Commonwealth’s Attorney C. Phillips Ferguson had created a part-time position three years prior to that.

“Victims deserve to be treated with dignity and respect,” Ferguson said during Tuesday’s ceremony. “They help the victims of crime rebuild their lives one step at a time.”

During the ceremony, held in a Circuit Court room, families of homicide victims from 2015 and so far in 2016 were invited to place a rose in a memorial wreath.

Donta Williams, William Batchelor, Wayne Watford and Aaron Hunter were remembered.

“It is our hope and goal to see that justice is done anytime somebody’s life is taken,” Ferguson said. “Our focus is to educate our citizens and prevent crime first. When we do that, we reduce further victimizations.”

Kassandra Bullock, victims services manager for the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services, applauded a recent increase in federal dollars that will help victim/witness services in Virginia serve the citizens better.

She also applauded the forethought of Suffolk officials.

“This program has been led by visionaries,” she said. “There are only a few such programs in the state that share your long history.”

Diane Bryant, the Suffolk Victim/Witness Director, said the work of advocates is important because without it, victims often feel like they do not have a voice.

“What they’re looking for is someone who will support them through the process,” she said.

As April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, child abuse and domestic violence were a focus of the event.

“Abuse can seem normal to youth who witness it in their own homes,” Ferguson said, adding that such children are more likely to become an abuser or a victim as adults. “Just witnessing violence impacts children’s lives.”

Erinn Portnoy, the executive director of the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters child abuse program, said 1,127 children received the center’s services last year. Every 75 minutes, a child is abused or neglected, she added.

The Suffolk Victim/Witness staff are Bryant, assistant directors Sonya Abbott and Sharon Smith, and program assistant Angela Owen.