SUNRISE, Fla. (AP/ WSVN) — The commission investigating the Florida high school massacre received an overview Thursday of the state’s police diversion programs for juveniles accused of minor crimes as the members try to ascertain whether something could have been done to prevent the Valentine’s Day shooting that left 17 people dead.
The presenters told the 15 members of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission that the programs have been successful in reducing juvenile crime and repeat offenders and decreasing the number of school suspensions, expulsions and offenses. They could not specifically discuss Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old former Stoneman Douglas student charged with the killings. Critics have said he should have been arrested after more than 20 contacts with law enforcement officers over the years along with numerous incidents at school that included threats, vandalism and violent outbursts.
Mark Greenwald, the director of research for the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, told the commission that diversion programs for low-level offenders are widely successful. For example, only 4 percent of juveniles who are referred to community programs through a widely used civil citation program reoffend within a year.
Under that program, juveniles who commit minor offenses such as underage drinking, petty shoplifting and minor vandalism are required to perform community service, often within days of the offense, rather than have a criminal case that will drag for months through the court system and leave them with a record that could hurt their ability to attend college, get a job or join the military. He also said locking up such low-level offenders also has a tendency to lead them into more serious crimes as they are exposed to violent and felonious teens.
Greenwald pointed out that almost all law-abiding, responsible adults did something as a teenager that could have gotten them arrested if they had been caught or if a police officer had not decided to cut them a break. For him, an officer let him go for drinking beer under the school bleachers.
“For most youth, we start with a light touch,” Greenwald said, adding that usually works. “We know that two-thirds of the kids are arrested in Florida are arrested once and don’t come back.”
For those who do repeat, he said, they get put into the juvenile justice system and often wind up on probation or in detention.
The commission is scheduled to hear Thursday afternoon from Broward County school officials about their Promise program, a diversion system that has received criticism since the massacre. Cruz was referred to the program in middle school after committing vandalism, but for unknown reasons never completed it. School officials say he was never referred to Promise in high school although he allegedly threatened other students and teachers.
Critics have said the program has allowed teenage criminals to remain in regular schools like Stoneman Douglas instead of being expelled, sent to alternative schools or arrested. One of its most outspoken critics, the father of slain student Meadow Pollack, resigned from the commission Thursday. Andrew Pollack says he wants to concentrate on getting new members elected to the Broward County school board to eradicate the Promise program and to tighten campus security.
“I really thought my best time, productive would be doing my own investigating,” Pollack said. “And also I’m very involved in this new school board election.”
The commission must submit a report to Florida Gov. Rick Scott by Jan. 1 detailing the members’ findings on the cause of the massacre and their recommendations for preventing future school shootings.
Meanwhile, Cruz’s attorneys have asked a judge to block the release of parts of what police call his confession. The motion filed Wednesday contends that parts of the statement “will cause significant trauma to an already beleaguered community” and its release would violate Cruz’s constitutional rights to a fair trial and against self-incrimination. A hearing is scheduled for Friday.
Cruz’s attorneys have said he would plead guilty in return to a sentence of life without parole. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
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