Alternative to the courts gets a try This is Joe’s punishment By CHRISTIANA WIENS PLL CALL him Joe. And this article is his punishment for Stealing store mer- chandise from Zellers in March, Joe, not his real name, is 15 and can’t be legally iden- tified because he is a young offender. His punishment was ar- ranged. through Terrace’s new alternative justice pro- gram, ; Two months ago, Joe loaded his backpack full of $76 worth of candy, choco- late and shaving cream and got caught. But instead of going to court, getting a lawyer, facing a myriad of court dates and eaming a criminal record, Joe and his mother opted to go to the basement of the RCMP detachment for a community justice forum. Here, Joe explained details of his crime to a Zellers security guard, his family, a forum coordinator and an RCMP officer. He explained to them why he did it and what he was thinking at the time, He talked about how he thinks the shoplifting affected his family and the store. And he listened while the Store security guard tells him how she stopped trust- ing teenagers with back- packs since his arrest. ‘ Joe also watched his mother cry as she told him how much she Joved him and how worried she was about his decision to steal that day. Joe apologized and al- lowed his story to be printed 80 it could be used as an ex- ample of Terrace’s new community forum process, - Deidre McEwan, the coor- dinator organizing last Wed- nesday’s session, says Joe’s punishment suits his crime. Even though Joe cannot be identified, she says he is-an intensely private person and just allowing his story to be witnessed took a lot of coaxing. Community justice forums, alsa called diver- sion or family group confer- encing, is a way of showing non-violent offenders the ef fect of their actions. Tt has been adapted from a successfull program in Aus- tralia. It’s thought that once offenders realize how their crime affects other people they are less likely to reof- fend. The program has been working for three years in Fort St. John, B.C. where organizers boast a 90 plus per cent success rate. If the forums work here, Cast. Jim Cooley of the Ter- race RCMP detachment said it could save valuable court time and money and stop repeat offenders from shoplifting or breaking and entering. At the end of a forum, most young offenders agree to whatever punishment the victim feels fair, whether that be picking up garbage for the beautification society or cleaning aut a barn to help a volunteer proup. Cooley has been in- strumental in administering the local program. He has already successfully seen six forum leaders here tack- le at least 20 files since the program started last July. At least four of those files crossed his desk in the last three weeks. Seven more people are waiting their tum for a forum. Each file is recommended to the program at the discre- tion of the investigating RCMP officer. To be eligible for a forum, adult or under age offenders need to have admitted guilt to a non-violent crime and agreed to the process, If they comply with the negotiated punishment, they won't have a criminal record. Cooley has seen the pro- 3: A FLORETTE McCLELLAND, a manager at Zell store's ‘no shoplifting’ signs. The store has ers, Slands beside one of the participated from the start in a punish- ment method that's intended as a replacement for the regular court system. from breaking and entering to solving a neighbourhood dispute, He says it works because it allows for human contact not experienced in modern court rooms, “They don't realize the affect of what they done un- til they talk to people,”’ said Cooley. “It’s a simple thing that’s so powerful.”’ In Terrace, just one of 20 offenders who have gone through the program have reoffended, He now faces provincial court procecd- ings. But Cooley said critics of the program who think the sessions aren’t hard enough, need to sit in on one of the emotional sessions, “You'll never get any incre emotion than what you’ ve got there,’’ he said. Lava bed campsites built B.C, PARKS has built 16 campsites near the visitors’ centre at the Nisga'a Lava Bed Memorial Park in the Nass Valley. “They're a nice addition to the park as theyll give people a base. They can see the park and visit the villages,”’ said B.C. Parks official Ken Zimmer last weck. B,C. Parks and the Nisga’a are co- managers of the provincial park which of- . fers guided walking tours of an area cov- ered by a lava flow, It has particular significance to the Nisga’a of the Nass Valley as the eruption cess work for everything several centuries ago buried a Nisga’a. vil- lage. Zimmer noted that the new campsites re- place what had been rough camping spots near the visitor’s centre. Aud Kleanza Creck Provincial Park also has additional campsites, The 21 spots there have been augmented by 11 new ones. And B.C. Parks has putin a group camp- site at its Jarge Lakelse Lake campground. That’ll make it easier to accommodate Zimmer. large groups who otherwise have to spread cut over individual campground siles, said * The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, May 19, 1999 - A3 News in Brief No booze at Exstew again in bid to stop vandalism THE EXSTEW River forest campsite will be off-limits to alcohol again this holiday weekend. The Ministry of Forests, in cooperation with the RCMP, will set up roadblocks stopping locals from bringing alcoho! into the site. Roadblocks have been sct up going into the camp- ground for two years now because vandals damaged the campsite a few years ago. “They flattened the sites for two years running,” said forestry representative Carl Johansen. Volunteer centre moving THE VOLUNTEER Bureau will be moving soon to the city hall building. The city will lease 1,200 square foot office in the basement of city hall to the bureau for $820 per month. That's a big saving over what the bureau was paying in rent for ils prime downtown space next to Hava Java. Bureau reps told city officials they’re facing grant cuts and can no longer afford their current location. Savings from rent are to help pay for the burean’s programs for seniors, Streets go to the birds NEW STREETS in the subdivision at the north end of Frank’s Field are being named Stellar’s Jay Drive and Hummingbird Avenue. The streets are located south of McConnell Cres. and the Seventh Day Adventist Church on the bench. The subdivision is being developed by Five Star Properties, which is owned by Mayor Jack Talstra. Council rejected one possible name of Beaver Ave- nue for the area after determining the rodent’s name is already in use on a crescent in the Thornhill ares. New food bank location found on Lazelle Ave. The Terrace Churches Food Bank has found a new home on Lazelle Avenue, Don Highe, owner of a building at 4647 Lazelle, will allow the food bank to use the basement of the building for as long as they need it, “The whole basement is exclusively ours,’’ said Kathy Miller, coordinator of the food bank. ‘We're very grateful.” Miller said she'll start moving groceries and supplies into the building in September once the basement is cleaned up. Closed for the summer, Miller expects the food bank to be back in business in October. The food bank had to move from its previous location on Walsh Avenue because the building was sold.