April 20, 2024
In person meeting and streamed on the Action Ridge Facebook page. We hope to put a video on our Website, as well.
Nan commenced the meeting at 7:08.
Link to video:
https://www.icloud.com/photos/#00ajJfz9UXzzYljaSgWhJvL1w
Nan explained the meeting is a follow up to the previous meeting which discussed adolescent development and mental health. At this meeting we will learn ways to handle misbehavior that supports everybody - the perpetrator and victim.
The moderator, Alissa Goldwasser (a co-lead on the Policing and Criminal Justice Area of Interest in Action Ridge) began the panel, “Addressing Youth Misconduct: What Can a Community Do?”
She stated the objectives:
-Gain a common understanding of how cases involving youth play out.
-Find a way to reduce incidents, specifically a reduction in misconduct through a reduction in repeat offenses.
Questions to the panel began with Officer Panizo, a School Resource Officer with the Park Ridge Police Department.
Q: Give us an overview of what you do.
A: His assignment is the safety and security of the school, spending ten months at a high school and the other two summer months strategically on patrol in Uptown.
Q: Give us your observations of what kids have been up to/problems that have occurred in Park Ridge?
A: There’s been a large congregation of 7th and 8th graders (clumps of 20-50) in Uptown, near the Oberweis, Chipotle, Starbucks area. He’s noticed they’ve always been respectful to him. Issues include standing on the sidewalk blocking the path to pedestrians, clogging toilets, hijinks in the parking lot, and hanging around businesses without making a purchase. Some businesses are more accepting of this but if the kids are told to vacate by a manager/employee then the kids tend to narrow their misconduct toward that person, as if they want to get back at them. For example, after the manager of Oberweis told the kids they could not sit inside or on the outside benches, a group of 30 made defamatory posters and protested outside the business. He also noted that in the summer of 2022, it was mainly kids who went to schools in Park Ridge. This summer, 2023, he noticed around 70% of the kids were from Norwood Park, Edison park, and Catholic schools nearby. He was unsure why it was this specific age group.
Q: What issues have been happening in the parks?
A: Around 5:00 the kids will congregate in Uptown. Then around 8/8:30 they will move to the parks like Hinkley Park. He prefers them to be in the park because they have more space. But there have been fireworks set off and this year a father living in a nearby townhome, was targeted with ding dong ditch for several weeks after telling them to keep it down.
Q: Generally what happens when you do have to address a young person?
A: He gave an example from the summer of 2022 when he noticed a young man carving initials in a table at Panera. He asked the young man what he was doing to which he answered he wasn’t really thinking. He then asked what the manager wanted to do and listed the various routes a victim can take:
-Call the offenders’ parents and discuss restitution.
-Charge him criminally, under a local ordinance violation. This would entail a trip to the Skokie courthouse before a judge. If the judge found him guilty then he would have to perform community service or pay a fine.
-The officer petitions the offender to Juvenile Court. Likely something such as minor vandalism would get thrown out since Cook County is already taxed with more serious crimes like hijacking.
-Send the offender before a peer jury where the accused would have to agree to participate, admit their crime and a jury of peers would decide the restitution.
Q: Is the juvenile with you when discussing these options?
A: Officer Panizo always has the offender call the parents first and have them come down before talking to the offender or at least have them on the phone. Then he has the discussion with the victim, offender and parent.
Q: What is a Juvenile Officer?
A: An officer receives extra training to learn the process of juvenile courts. They are also trained as advocates for the juvenile.
Q: How would you approach the following scenario: Some kids take a shopping cart from Trader Joes and are pushing each other around when one gives the cart a big push and sideswipes a car.
A: He would determine mindset. Did the juvenile want to damage the car? Then they would go through options. Or was it horseplay where there is still liability but it’s not criminal? In that case he would take a report so the victim has a path to restitution - for example, they could call the parents and ask for restitution or sue. He noted that most in this area are mortified when they are called about misconduct. They tend to be overwhelmingly agreeable to making it right with the victim.
Q: How do you know if this is a 1st or 2nd or 15th time offender?
A: There is an internal communication system that lists reports of previous hours so he and other officers can stay up to date on what happened while they were away. He’d like to think we wouldn’t change the process no matter the repetition, that the repeat offender would get all the options so they have due process. He noted the peer jury is a one time option.
Evan White is the next panelist interviewed. He is the Agency & Program Coordinator for MaineStay Youth & Family Service in Maine Township.
Q: What do you oversee?
A: Youth programs which includes the peer jury where an offender has to admit what they did and are given a sentence which is often community service.
Q: What is the benefit of a peer jury?
A: It is a calm environment, often curbs any fines and helps juveniles build relationships with people in the community.
Q: How often do they take place and how many offenders go through this process?
A: The peer jury meets once a month for 9 months of the year. Evan has been overseeing it for two years. In that time, each month has ranged from 1-8 offenders. On average it has been 3. Over the course of the year, there are around 15-30.
Q: Tell us about the jurors.
A: Their role is to listen to the offender and ask questions. It is not their job to figure out what the offender did but to understand the story. Then the jurors get to the why - was the offender bored, for example. Finally, the jurors ask how the offender feels. They have the offender go through the whole story and then reflect. The jurors are aged 14-17. They generally have an interest in criminal justice or they just want to help out the community.
Q: What is the range of offenses?
A: Possession of drugs/alcohol, possession of a weapon, trespassing, theft. Disorderly conduct is common. More severe cases have been arson and credit card theft.
Q: How does an offender react once sentenced?
A: Typically, they are not happy after reliving the situation or about getting community service hours. The majority of the time they are respectful and regretful by the end.
Q: Is there a particular case where you saw the impact the peer jury had?
A: A perk of the peer jury is that the crime is not on their record. A high schooler who was about to turn 18 stole credit cards. Had this person not gone through the peer jury, they could have faced jail time and had it on her record for prospective employers to see.
Q: What is the age group of the offenders?
A: 13-17, the majority being in high school.
Q: Are the parents present for the peer jury?
A: Yes, a parent is present. Parents are also present when community service is explained.
Richard Lyon, LCPC was the next panelist interviewed. He is the Director of MaineStay Youth & Family Services in Maine Township.
Q: What are you seeing these days within the counseling services?
A: Anxiety, internalizing behavior, self injury, experimenting with drugs/alcohol. They don’t know a pathway to navigate pain or how to make themselves better.
Q: What services does MaineStay offer?
A: Depending on the age, 5-17, we offer programs free to low cost–ranges from tutoring, improv and cooking (to teaching independence and improving self esteem), summer camp, programs to target skills dealing with anxiety, an anger management group, self esteem building group, and K-3 emotional regulation group. The aim is to intervene early to get a child in touch with strategies before they get into trouble. The hope is to involve a family as much as possible with the goal of helping parents feel empowered.
Q: What are ways to steer someone to counseling who is struggling?
A: It can be difficult even for adults but the stigma is decreasing. The priority of the first session is to look at them holistically, not just one behavior. Can suggest to try it out for 3 sessions which can be more palatable.
Megan Novara was the final panelist interviewed. She is a Restorative Practices Coach in Community Consolidated School District 21.
Q: Talk about what you do now.
A: She is a department of one. Her day started with a Kindergarten circle and ended with planning anti bias material for the district.
Q: Can you give an example of a restorative conference circle?
A: Kids graffitied trees in an arboretum. During the conference, the employees were able to say the trees were like their children - very special to them. The kids could say we didn’t think. They said ”It was just right there in front of them”. They ended up working in the arboretum as restitution. Often, kids can’t tell you exactly why they acted out. It’s common that a kid didn’t think twice. It was not targeted. The narrative that’s been built up disappears when people are brought together and hear each other. When it comes to consequences there is a binary of permissive to punitive. Neither is helpful and what is needed is more accountability. Megan notes these circles are a lot of work. There are hours of pre-conferencing and inadvertent counseling with the offender.
Alissa thanked the panel and the work they did to prepare for the meeting.
An audience Q & A followed.
Question to Officer Panizo: You are attached to the high school but it’s the middle schoolers in Uptown. Seems to me, an officer should be in the middle schools.
A: There was dissension in the community about whether police should be in elementary schools. A pilot program a few years back was voted down 4 to 3.
Question to Officer Panizo: What do you do at the HS?
A: Helps the crossing guard in the morning, walks the halls, investigates crimes reported, stays in touch with various school professionals like the school psychologist.
Question to Officer Panizo: Who has power, you or the Dean?
A: He believes and the school (including the Dean) believes all school based offenses should have school based consequences (versus criminal consequences). But a victim of battery, for example, will have school based consequences, and if a family wants to pursue criminal charges, then it is out of the hands of the schools.
Question to Evan: What are the follow up procedures after community service hours have been given?
A: It’s the offender’s job to email him their schedule. Then he will send them recommended community service opportunities. They typically have 30 days to complete. He will reach out once a month to check in. Once complete, then they return to peer jury and the jurors follow up by asking questions like, “What did you think of the process?” and “How are your relationships?”.
Question to Evan: Does the jury have a level of confidentiality?
A: Yes, it is all confidential. Jurors will remove themselves from a case if they know the person for bias reasons.
Question to Evan: What’s your success rate? Do you get people who walk away in the middle or don’t complete their community service hours?
A: About 90%. They go back to the starting process if they don’t finish.
Question to Officer Panizo: What do you think if the Park Ridge Police Department used restorative justice?
A: For the most part he has seen its success in school, but he is not a part of the meetings so can’t comment much. He notes that he is open to diversionary processes to avoid someone going to court and likens his own interactions with a juvenile, their parents and the victim to his own restorative circles and that it’s the ideal way to resolve things.
The panel concluded and Nan asked if there were any quick announcements:
-Jeanne announced the PR Library has a discussion on how residents can take advantage of solar panel costs. It will be on 10/12/2023 in the 1st floor meeting room.
-Kate asked that attendees provide contact info to receive Action Ridge updates and announcements.
-Chris noted it is an election year in 2024 and that there are Action Ridge members who can register people to vote. Volunteers needed to help register high school students to vote, as well.
-Joseph Steinfels announced that there will be a Forest Preserve trash cleanup on 10/13/2023 from 1-3pm meeting at Dam #4 woods parking lot.
-Nan noted that the Press is present, thanked the journalist and thanked the two alderpersons in attendance. She asked participants to email her or Action Ridge regarding what they'd like to see at future meetings.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:00.
Respectfully Submitted by Molly Phalin and Nan Parson