by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
State Attorney Harry Shorstein has lately been making the rounds at City Hall touting an approach to crime reduction that he says is a Jacksonville original.
With a tight budget expected for next year, the City is looking for ways to do more with less. Shorstein says his early intervention program for juvenile criminals is designed to do exactly that.
Shorstein revamped the Juvenile Division in his office in 1992 to change its emphasis from simply prosecuting juveniles to rehabilitating them as well. He doubled the number of attorneys in the department and expanded the office’s reach.
Rather than waiting for juveniles to be brought to his office in handcuffs, the state attorney’s office began seeking them out as attorneys went to schools to let students know the consequences of illegal behavior. Tougher truancy policies encouraged better attendance.
Shorstein also offered non-violent youth offenders alternatives to traditional adjudication. He emphasized diversion programs to keep minor offenses out of crowded courts. Last year, the office diverted 2,600 cases resulting in 40,000 hours of community service and $23,000 in restitution.
Shorstein’s office emphasizes incarceration of repeat and violent juvenile offenders. But even they are provided the opportunity to pursue an education while in jail.
Cities always spend big on traditional law enforcement; arresting criminals and locking them up. Mayor John Peyton increased funding for the City’s police and fire departments by $43 million last year.
That money is essential, says Shorstein. But in visits with the City Council and mayor’s office over the last several months, Shorstein has been pleading the case for his youth programs. The cost of the programs is relatively small, he said, and they appear to be reducing the number of kids that grow up to be criminals, according to numbers given to the City Council by Shorstein.
Those numbers show far fewer juvenile arrests in a number of serious crimes since the youth programs first began in Shorstein’s office in 1992. Arrests for vehicle thefts were down 79 percent, from 782 in 1993 to 164 in 2003. Burglary arrests were down 65 percent, murder down 72 percent and aggravated assault arrests were cut in half over the same time period.
Several members of the Council’s Finance Committee reacted with surprise to those numbers when Shorstein presented them last month.
“I’ve always been a supporter of these programs, but I didn’t realize they had this kind of effect,” said Finance chairman Reggie Fullwood. “The numbers are amazing.”
The committee later approved $246,000 for a variety of youth programs. Shorstein said the City has been a willing partner in youth intervention. Funding for the programs is becoming more important, he said, because it’s one of the few areas where the City can legally fund operations. State statutes prohibit the City from funding the office’s payroll or day-to-day expenses.
Shorstein is looking for all the help he can get. While increased City funding for law enforcement is driving arrests up, stagnant State funding is making it more difficult for Shorstein’s staff to keep up.
“People tell me, ‘You have a Republican governor, a Republican legislature, a Republican mayor, you must have all the money you need for law enforcement,” said Shorstein. “The truth is quite different.”
Shorstein views every juvenile through his programs as one his office likely won’t have to prosecute as an adult. He calls the programs “a preemptive strike” against the costs of later prosecution and incarceration.