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<br />~I <br /> <br />Seeking PeacefiU Alternatives <br /> <br />Victims and c'P'~~u'~~ty' while <br />holding off~nder,s acc()~n}<ib,1e/~, ,'.~_',' <br />Hines remin,d~"tP!>~gJ:I~. t:hJ~~' ~t!s: nqt <br />an easy -Qut:. m~~~,!~?~u::a~_~;a lOL~f <br />work. And mediati~liis not the answer <br />for all cases, Hines'says t,o those who <br />see it as "nearly miraculous in its out- <br />come." Hines has also had some people <br />question whether mediation is "soft" <br />OIl. crime. He says. "People find this <br />moredifficult,demanding, andrewarding <br />than lawyer-dominated court:' <br /> <br />The Gift of Time <br />Besides the knowledge ,.that he or <br />she has helped solve. a dispute,-an of- <br />ficer can thank the mediation process <br />~for giving the gift of time. To illustrate <br />mediation's usefulness, Bailey-Allen <br />cites a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1995 <br />study of the effectiveness of neighbor- <br />hood dispute resolution (mediation) as <br />proof of the time-saving benefits. <br />Roosevelt E. Shepherd, associate pro- <br />fessorofcriminaljosticeatShippensbwg <br />University, prepared the report. <br />In 1994, a partnership between. the <br />N~gi1~rh<1oo:lPisputeSettlementCeoter <br />and the Harrisburg.Police Department <br />-was ~reated.anda study-te;stedthe~use- <br />fulness of this new collaboration. - In <br />the Shepherd study, neighborhood dis- <br />pute resolution was used in.a select <br />group oflaw enforcement referred cases. <br />The results were positive: In the 37 <br />mediation-referred cases, there was a <br />75.3 percent decrease in calls after six <br />months; in the 37 cases without media~ <br />tion, the number of calls.to police in- <br />creased 5.8 percent <br />Chief Richard Shaffer said, "I real- <br />ized this [the-use- of the Neighborhood <br />Dispute Settlement Center] was the tool <br />.bywhich lcould decrease the number <br />of times"a police officer must respond <br />to the same neighborhood problem and, <br />thus, improve the utilization of police <br />services to the city of Harrisburg." <br />The same results bave been noted in <br />Minnesota. Wallerstedtrecalls anAnoka <br />County case where neighbors in an <br />apartment building had been squab- <br />bling. One of the neighbors lived di. <br />rectly above the other. The two had <br />called police more than 40 times over <br /> <br />II <br /> <br />IL <br /> <br /> <br />Lonni McCauley and Richard Jefferson serve as mediators in a <br />neighborhood mediation simulation that was part of a training <br />session at Mediation Services for ADoka County. <br /> <br />noise disturbances. They were referred <br />fO MSAC. By mediation~.: tpt:, p~e~ <br />were al>l~to e~pathize wjtb ~~. 9,the~-' <br />work .schedule. They e~phanged:iele~ <br />phone numbers, aDd one party. agreed <br />to wear earplugs at night when the <br />other would come home from work. <br />Follow-ups show that the agreement is <br />working, frustration is down, and no <br />further calls to police occurred. The <br />bottom line is, says Wallerstedt, 80 to <br />85 percent of the time, you can rely on <br />other people's word. <br /> <br />Role of the Mediator <br />The mediation process begins .with <br />the aforementioned referral. The case <br />is then assigned two mediators as part <br />of the co-mediation structure. There <br />are more than 200 volunteer mediators <br />in the state of Minnesota. These media- <br />torscomefrom a variety of backgrounds, <br />but all have fulfilled the Minnesota <br />Supreme Court's guidelines. Among <br />the requirements. 30 hours of initial <br />training and six hours of continuing <br />education peryear. Mostmediation pro- <br />grams also require six mediations a <br />year. <br /> <br />. Bonnie Lukes, form,er executive di- <br />rec~or of No~h _Ilenriepilr~_edi_ation <br />Program, cuttenl1y.' seryes' ~-.fu <br />theeapacity of~oluDreet~~i.~t;.r:L4e's <br />mediates about once.' a::n'tont6:;jerry <br />McCadden is: a:volunteelm:edia:totWith <br />Mediation Seryices forAnoka.C?unty, <br />and volunteers twice a week tomedi- <br />ate. <br />All mediators are volunteers and <br />wOlk in pairs. "Since we use volunteers <br />as the mediators, what we have to offer <br />is time," says Bailey-Allen. "That's what. _ <br />these situations call for and that's what <br />police officers don't have. They may <br />b~v;: 15 .minu~s-...for e*ample,Jo spend <br />on a call. FotoUr.average mediation we <br />block out two hours of time." <br />MediatQI'$caD dictate theirown level <br />of participation. Some. mediators have <br />time for only the minimum six cases a <br />year; othas choose to dedicate a few <br />hours a week. Wallmtedtnotes that some <br />mediators choose to focus on a particular <br />kind of case; ihey will not do juvenile <br />cases or will only do neigi1bo1l100d dis- <br />pUtes. The mediation programs reCognize <br />these choices and also notice when a me- <br />diatorbas proficiency in a specialty area. <br /> <br />AUTUMN 2004/17 <br /> <br />II <br />