2005-01-12 CC Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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~I Seeking Peaceful Alternatives latter usually works better:' Edwardo Wolle of Rice County Dis- pute Resolution Program 'also hands out cards at law enforcement events and roll caU. Their cards are printed in both English and Spanish. He prefers to recej.ve referrals by phone or e-mail. Jeanne Zimmer of Dispute Resolu- tion Center says that they are open to both direct and indirect referrals from police officers~ and, according to coor~ dinator Betty Christenson. referrals at Alternative DisputeResolution Services "generally come from the person re- ferred. ... Sometimes the police or sheriff's department will contact us describing the situation to so we can anticipate a call f~m the individuaJ." Recognizing 'a Referral C,ue Both Bailey-Allen and WaUerstedt have found that officers receive re- peated calls for service from the same residence. These cases may be suitable for mediation. Bailey-Allen says that sometimes the issue is a lack of com- munication between the disputing par- ties. "1 am amazed in neighborhood mediations... how often the people are mee~ing each other for the first time in the mediatioo," says Bailey-Allen. Me~ diatioD helps give the disputing p~ies a way to cooperate in the future, so their first call isn't to the police. The most important thing police need to know about mediation, though, is that while mediation may work in many small disputes. any cases involving weapons or alcohol, drugs. or domestic violence should not be referred to me- diation. "We are not a crisis agency," Wallerstedt adds. Bailey-Allen agrees, "We get too many calls for domestic violence situations and that's got to) be frustrating for the people who are mak- ing those calls and finding out that the resource they've been given isn't going to be helpful." Another reminder for police is to refercasesearlytomediation. Wallerstedt just recently was referred a case by law enforcement that the police had been dealing with unsuccessfully for five years. Senior Commander Colleen Luna 181MINNESOTA POLICE CHIEF II IL Mediators from the Minneapolis Mediation Program train for han- dling community mediations. of the Saint Paul Police Department is chair of the Dispute Resolution Center Board of Directors. Luna says that al-. ternative dispute resolution is "near and dear" to her heart and notes that "every case mediated orfacilitated by a DRC volunteer is one less 911 phone call or protracted legal dispute." LUria is "committed to the community-based mediation and restorative justice ser- vices DRC offers." She says, "DRC provides a forum for healing commu- nities and empowering individuals to solve their own disputes ... Mediation is an efficient, effective, and economi- cal approach to resolving our community's disagreements." Volunteer mediators Bonnie Lukes and Jerry McCadden both feel that po- lice officers should refer annoyance cases before they escalate. Police of- fice:rs should' hand over' these cases, Lukes says, so they are free "for the things that need their exact police ex- pertise:' McCadden says that sometimes po_ lice have sat in on his mediation ses- sions and the community has learned from them about what they can and can't do. In one case, the police were accused of "doing nothing," but since no charges had been filed, there were no legal actions that they could take. Once this was explained to the com- plainants, they better understood the role of the officer. Community Iustice Coordinator David Hines of the Woodbury Police Department encourages police officers to refer cas~s., His department~as a special restorative justice progquri,for juvenile cases and neighbor~99d c;Us- putes:They began i~cl~ding In~iatiQn in 1994. Hin~s s<iYS that "agenCies. . [should] get inv:olvc9by at least refer- ring cases out and participating in them as a key player if not facilitating cases, as we do'" Hines often speaks to law enforce- ment officers and has been asked many questions about the responsibilities of law enforcement in terms of media- tion. Hines says if manpower-is a prob- lem, officers don't have to be too in- yolvf'd. !hey c~~j:J:;t ;:~fer th6 Ca:;.es 10 mediation and not participate them- selves. To those who question whether cops should be involved, he says, "Po- licing has always been and always will need to be about community interac- tion, problem solving and, to be etfec. tive. working with and seeking out com- munity resources to define and address the community's needs. Our prime goal should always be to prevent crime and whe_D that fails to he.lp. repair, Ir-