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Though police do often drop criminal charges if the victim is uncooperative.

Here's a recent example: a friend of mine was raped and strangled to death last month. They caught her alleged murderer last week. When the media got a hold of it, they found out that he had been accused of rape and attempted strangulation five years ago, but police decided not to press charges because the victim wanted to let it drop.

So yeah, it happens; it's just a spectacularly bad idea for the police to do it. If they hadn't declined to file charges, my friend and another murder victim would probably still be alive today.

Source: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2017/05/26/man-killed-...

I'm very sorry about your friend. That is an absolute tragedy.

Victims can choose not to cooperate with an investigation, which makes it much harder (and in some cases impossible) for a prosecution to proceed.

If all the relevant material is "spilled" in a civil trial that the victim is pursuing against someone else, the victim's cooperation in the criminal case is less likely to be needed.

Correct. See: Aaron Swartz (rest in peace)