Andy Kahan served as the Victim Advocate for the Mayor’s Office and Houston Police Department for 26 years before retiring and joining Crime-Stoppers of Houston to resume his career as the Director of Victim Services and Victim Advocacy
Andy Kahan received his Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice in 1983 from the University of Houston. He worked as both a Parole and Probation Officer before becoming the first victim advocate in the country to work in a Mayor’s Office. Some of his responsibilities included working with local crime victim’s rights organizations to facilitate the pooling of resources and the exchange of information. In addition, he will accompany and represent victims before the Parole Board. He also put crime victims in touch with local crime victims support and advocacy groups in addition to court accompaniment.
The Advocate conducts several annual events to assist crime victims:
- National Day of Remembrance for surviving family members of homicide
- Unsolved Homicide Day
- Memorial Holiday Tree Ceremony for homicide victims
- National Missing Person’s Day
- National Crime Victims Rights Week
Board Member:
- Parents of Murdered Children & Surviving Family Members of Homicide
- Texas Equusearch
Since its inception, the Advocate has had great success in working with the Legislature in support of Victims Rights & Public Safety. Mr. Kahan’s advocacy efforts have played a pivotal role in the passage of numerous laws and policy changes, including:
- 1993: Creating a Capital offense for those who murder a child under the age of six
- 1993: Reduction in the number of Parolees released in Harris County.
- 1995: Abolishment of Mandatory Release of convicted felons.
- 1995: Promotion of gun safety by making adults criminally responsible for failure to properly store firearms.
- 1996: Enacted a policy change to allow victims families to witness executions.
- 1997: “Lori’s Law” Allowing juveniles to be criminally charged with Failure to Stop and Render Aid.
- 1997: Mandating the Parole Board meet with either the victims or family members before a vote takes place.
- 1997: Allowing Governmental Agencies the option of providing public information to convicted felons who are incarcerated.
- 1999: Creation of an enhanced sex offender’s notification to include names, specific numeric address and photographs free of charge. Direct mailing of the above provided to residents within three blocks of a high- risk offender.
- 1999: Extended Crime Victims compensation benefits for relocation expenses to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
- 2000: Instrumental in bringing Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE) to Harris County.
- 2001: Spearheaded National Campaign to prevent convicted criminals and their agents from profiting from the sale of “Murderabilia”. Several states as a result enacted the Notoriety for Profit Law.
- 2001: Extension of Statute of Limitations on Hit-And-Run fatalities from three years to unlimited, as in other cases of homicide.
- 2003: Extended Parole Set-offs from a maximum of three years to five years for violent offenders.
- 2005: Changed the cause of death from “Homicide” to Judicial Order on a death certificate of an executed inmate.
- 2005: Allows for victim notification on cases found not guilty by reason of insanity.
- 2006: Initiated policy change within the Texas Department of Public Safety to include deported sex offenders on their public database.
- 2006: Initiated policy change within MySpace to screen death row inmate web pages.
- 2009: Enhanced Conspiracy to Solicit Capitol Murder to a 1st Degree Felony
- 2009: Added Conspiracy to Solicit Capitol Murder to the list of offenses eligible for Termination of Parental Rights
- 2009: Pre-1980 Homicide Cases will now be eligible to receive Crime Victim Compensation Benefits.
- 2011: Eliminated convicted first degree murderers from being eligible to receive Probation
- 2011: Mandated the Court to ask Prosecutors before a plea bargain is accepted if the victims/survivors have been notified
- 2013: ‘Emma’s Law’ which give the Parole Board discretion to set-off all Injury To a Child cases for up to five years upon denying parole
- 2013: Graphic Crime Scene Photos no longer automatically released to the public upon request unless a stipulated by a Court order
- 2015: Allowing discretion for the Parole Board not to review offenders convicted of Capital Murder and Aggravated Sexual Assault for up to ten years upon denial of parole
- 2015: Allowing the Parole Board to impose sex offender conditions on offenders convicted on non-sexual offenses as long as evidence clearly indicates a sexual assault took place.
- 2018: City ordinance crafted to regulate parolee halfway houses in Houston
- 2019: ‘Sir Romeo Law’: Allows families whose children were the victim of Attempted Murder to apply for Relocation Expenses from the Crime Victim Compensation fund
- 2019: The Adult Clear Alert enacted to allow alerts to be broadcast on adults who go missing as a result of Criminal Conduct
MEDIA AND PUBLICATION
Andy Kahan in his role as Victim Advocate has received national recognition on Television and News Shows such as:
- CNN
- The Oprah Winfrey Show
- Anderson Cooper Show
- ABC’s 20/20/Prime Time
- CBS’s 48 Hours
- Dateline
- The Today Show
- Court TV
- Good Morning America
- The Nancy Grace Show
- Fox News
- MSNBC
- America’s Most Wanted
- CBS 60 Minutes
- National Geographic Taboo
- Newsweek
- People Magazine
- Crime Watch Daily
- The John Walsh Show
- A@E Network
- Discovery ID
- Netflix : Killer Nurses and Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer
- Time Magazine
- The Oxygen Channel
- The Dr Oz Show
- The Judge Jeanine Pirro Show
HONORS AND AWARDS
- Governor’s Senator Ralph Yarborough Allied Professional Award for Outstanding Leadership by a Service Professional
- Foundation for Improvement of Justice National Award Winner for significant contributions to the field of criminal justice
- National Council of Jewish Women Hannah G. Solomon Award for enacting social change to improve crime victims’ rights
- Ronald Wilson Reagan Public Policy Award from the United States Department of Justice Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) for public policy leadership and innovation that benefits crime victims
- National Organization of Parents of Murdered Children Becky Reed Memorial Award for outstanding contributions on behalf of survivors of homicide
- Crime Stoppers of Houston Leiv Platou Award for contributions to enhance public safety and victims’ rights
- Recognized by the City of Katy as one of their top Person’s of the Year 2018
- Andy Kahan Day Proclamation issued by the City of Houston 2018
- National Office for Victim Assistance (NOVA) Marlene Young Leadership Award for Victim Advocacy
On February 6, 2023 I sat down with Andy Kahan at his office at Crime Stoppers in Houston, Texas in order to learn more about his role as an advocate for the family members of murder victims, focusing our conversation primarily on his advocacy for these family members when they choose to be present as witnesses at the execution of the murderer of their loved one. Mr. Kahan has accompanied numerous family members to the witness room in order to support them through this extremely difficult experience. Mr. Kahan typically waits on the family members in a holding room during the executions that these families attend, yet twice he has witnessed executions when family members requested that he join them in the witness room.
Click on the link above to watch a video of a news story that focuses on the unlikely relationship that Andy Kahan formed with the infamous serial killer David Berkowitz, dubbed the "Son of Sam," over twenty years ago. Andy Kahan began a relationship with David Berkowitz after Mr. Kahan wrote a letter to Mr. Berkowtiz to solicit his help as they joined together to expose collectors of "Murderabilia" (a term that Andy Kahan coined to refer to the personal items of serial killers that collectors sell for profit).