HANDOUT 3: Edwin and the Slashed Tires-Community Justice Conference

Transcription

1 Roles HANDOUT 3: Edwin and the Slashed Tires-Community Justice Conference Facilitator Edwin Green, the young offender Constable Black, who investigated the offence Mrs. Day, a victim Mr. Knight, a victim Mrs. Green, Edwin s mother Community Justice Conference Script Conference Facilitator: Welcome. As you know, my name is and I am the facilitator for this conference. Also here today is Constable Black, who investigated the offence which brought us here today, and Mrs. Day and Mr. Knight, who are victims of the offence. Edwin s mother, Mrs. Green, is also present. Thank you all for attending this conference. This is difficult for all of us but your presence here will help us deal with the matter that has brought us together. Today this conference will focus on a tire-slashing incident. All together, about 30 tires were slashed. We are not here to focus on what Edwin and his two friends did. We are here to focus on how Edwin s behaviour has affected others. Edwin has admitted his part in the tire slashing. This conference may be able to settle the problem, as long as Edwin is able to take part in a positive way and agrees to do what the conference decides. Do you understand that, Edwin? Today we all have an opportunity to be a part of repairing the harm that has been done. Edwin, tell us what happened and what you were thinking about at the time of the incident. Edwin: (Softly sounding shy and embarrassed) I was bored and had nothing much to do. Me and Marty went downtown Friday night. We both drank some tequila. We had nothing to do, so we walked to Joe s house at 11:30 that night. Then all three of us went for a walk. Because we were bored we decided to slash some tires. I had the knife and we all took turns slashing tires. One of the us would walk close to a car and stab at the tire while the other two walked ahead to keep a lookout. We did it for about half an hour. Facilitator: What did you tell the police about why you did that?

2 Edwin: I was angry that evening. At school one boy in particular has been calling me names, and saying racist things about me. I went to the boy s house with the idea that I d slash his father s tires. His father has two cars. From there on we just continued to slash tires in the neighbourhood. Facilitator: How have you felt since the incident? Edwin: I guess I ve been wondering what s going to happen to me. Facilitator: Who has been affected by your actions? Edwin: (Again, softly) All of those people have big houses. But I guess I affected them. Facilitator: In what way have these people been affected? Edwin: Well, I guess when they came out the next morning they couldn t get to work. And they must have wondered why their tires had been slashed. Facilitator: Now let s find out from the victims the way they have been affected. Let s begin with you, Mrs. Day. Mrs. Day: I was very frightened. My husband was in hospital having some tests done and we d just found out he d have to have an operation. I was worried sick about this news and I was also frightened because I was in the house alone. When I went out in the morning I couldn t believe it. I had to get to the hospital to my husband, and now someone had attacked my car. I felt very scared. To think that someone had been just outside my window with knife, attacking my property. I can t understand why anyone would want to do this to me. Facilitator: Thank you. Now let s see what Mr. Knight has to say. Mr. Knight: When I looked out the window and saw three kids slashing tires on my two cars I couldn t believe my eyes. This is a quiet neighbourhood; we all felt safe here. I ve lived on Pine Avenue for over 30 years. I don t think my wife and I will ever feel safe in the same way again. When I found out that Edwin came to my home, intending to slash my tires because he was angry at my son, I felt very confused. I was ashamed of my son for making racist remarks. I was scared for my wife. I was shocked that we should be singled out for harm. Facilitator: Mrs. Green, I expect this incident has been difficult for you. Will you please tell us how it has affected you? Mrs. Green: I felt sad and mad when I heard what had happened. My son is too old to be doing things like this. I know he s been in trouble once before, for a minor assault, but I thought he d put all that behind him. When I heard about this, I started to think about what I had done wrong. Edwin was in foster care for some years, you know. Now

3 he s back with me again and I want him to finish high school and get a good job. I was embarrassed when my friends and neighbours heard that Edwin had been slashing tires. I also knew that I had to tell his grandparents before they found out from somebody else. That was the worst part. Facilitator: Constable Black, how has this incident affected you? Constable Black: Well, our detachment has been understaffed for the past two months. Officers have been very stressed over all the work we have that never seems to get finished. Currently, I am investigating a hit and run, an arson, a serious threat, and a number of break and enters. I know when I get back to the office I will have more files on my desk and I also have to prepare for two court appearances this week. This incident gave me more work to do when I already have more than enough. Facilitator: Edwin, now that you have heard from all these people, do you have anything to say to them? Let s begin with Mrs. Day... Do you have anything to say to her? Edwin: (Head down.) Sorry. Facilitator: Edwin, look at Mrs. Day and tell her what you are thinking. Edwin: Mrs. Day, I didn t know your husband was in hospital and that you needed the car to go and visit him. I m sorry I frightened you. I m sorry you couldn t use the car. Facilitator: Now, Edwin, how about Mr. Knight. Do you have anything to say to him? Edwin: (Looking at Mr. Knight) I realize that slashing your tires to get back at you for things your son said to me isn t the way to go. When your son came and apologized to me for the things he d said, he admitted you d made him do that. It s funny, but after he d apologized, I didn t feel so angry anymore. I just wish I hadn t gone to your house Friday night. It was dumb. Facilitator: Do you have anything to say to the Constable? Edwin: (looking at the Constable) I am sorry for all the work I caused you. I also know that I am lucky you gave me a chance to go through the conference instead of sending my file straight to Crown, especially when I ve been in trouble once before. Facilitator: Edwin, there s one more person in this circle to whom you owe an apology, your mother. Edwin: (This time his voice is shaky) Mom, I m so sorry. I promise you I won t get into trouble again.

4 Facilitator: We have come a long way here in a short time, but the conference isn t quite over. I will begin with the victims to see what else they would like to see happen as a result of this conference. I ll begin with Mr. Knight whose tires you intended to slash when you went to his home. Do you think anything else should happen? Mr. Knight: When I came here tonight, I was really thinking that I would ask for a lot from Edwin, maybe 100 hours of community service and a six-month curfew or something like that. However, now that we have met face to face and I see how difficult it was for him to come here tonight. I really don t want anything more except maybe a letter of apology. He could apologize to me as my son has apologized to him. Facilitator: Edwin, do you think you could write a letter of apology to Mr. Knight? Edwin: Yes, I could do that. Facilitator: Do you feel the request is fair? Edwin: Yes, it is fair. Facilitator: Mrs. Day, do you have any thoughts about anything else you would like to see happen as a result of this conference? Mrs. Day: I ve been thinking about this a lot. I agree with the letter. I also think that Edwin should do some community service hours, and get some anger management counselling. I think he should pay some compensation to use for the cost of repairing the tires. Facilitator: Constable Black, is there anything else you would like to see come from this conference? Constable Black: I like the idea of a letter of apology and the community service hours. I think it would be good to have a letter written to the RCMP members in my detachment, too. This could help them understand what can come from a conference like this since it s new to our community and many members haven t participated in one. It could also help morale in the detachment. It s good to see that some offenders are remorseful and it s worth taking a chance on some people even with a youth who s been in trouble once before. Facilitator: Edwin, how to you feel about getting anger management counselling, doing 100 hours of community service, writing letters of apologies to Mrs. Day and Mr. Knight, and also writing a letter to the RCMP detachment? Can you earn some money by doing part-time work to pay $100 each to Mrs. Day and Mr. Knight? Edwin: (sounding almost relieved) I can do that. Facilitator: Mrs. Green do you have any suggestions about what should be done?

5 Mrs. Green: I think the counselling is a great idea. I think that that may help Edwin the most. I m OK with the community hours and the letters, too. I can give Edwin jobs around the house and I think he can help my brother with his business. Facilitator: Does anyone else have any other suggestions? Well, let s look at some time lines. How long do you think it will take you to write the letters, Edwin? Edwin: I can write them tonight. Facilitator: Just to be sure, let s give you three days. Mrs. Green, can I count on you as a supporter of Edwin here today to see that those letters are written? Mrs. Green: Yes. Will you give us an address for mailing the letters? Facilitator: Yes, I will include that in the agreement we all sign here in a few minutes. We will all get a copy of the agreement. I will also include a few comments about what should be included in each letter but, of course, the actual wording of the letter will be Edwin s. Facilitator: Edwin, I am asking that you also send me copies of the letters you write, so I can close this file when you have fulfilled your obligations. You can send the letters in care of the RCMP to my attention. You will also need to contact me about the community service hours. Facilitator: Is there anything else anyone wants to say before I close the conference and write up the agreement? All right, thank you all for your participation. This resolution wouldn t have been possible without you. The facilitator then writes up the agreement, which everyone has to sign. Agreement sample follows.

6 Community Justice Conference Agreement Name: Incident: Date of Conference: Conference Site: Facilitator: Repairing the harm: Required: Apologize to the victim(s) if there is a direct victim(s) Supervised by: Mentored by: Required: Make amends to the victim and the community Supervised by: Mentored by: Optional: Other commitments (recommendations made by the conference) Supervised by: Mentored by: Agreement deadline: Signatures