JUVENILES GET ALTERNATIVE TO JAIL WITH NEW PROGRAM

Deputies Can Assign Community Service For Some Offenses

Whether it's for underaged drinking, criminal mischief or something more
serious, more than 2,000 juveniles are arrested in Escambia County each year.

A new diversion program at the Escambia County Sheriff's Office promises to
reduce those numbers and is now expanding as spring and summer teen-age
high jinks are on the rise.

Under a civil citation program that began last month, deputies can divert
first-time misdemeanor offenders directly into a community cleanup program.

No handcuffs, no mug shots, no juvenile arrest. Just a ticket and some
elbow grease spent cleaning the grounds of schools and businesses or
washing county vehicles.

"What we're doing is to get some officers out on the street and visible,
working with these kids," said Deputy Randy Blake, coordinator of Sheriff
Ron McNesby's newly formed youth relations department. "The kids don't have
to wade through the courts, they see immediate consequences. They have to
report to work within seven days."

The program is funded by a six-month Department of Juvenile Justice grant
renewable for a year. About 20 juveniles a week have been working
Saturdays, half of them washing cruisers, half keeping the grounds at Pine
Forest High School.

The program applies only to first-time offenses such as possession of small
amounts of marijuana, fights and petty theft.

Depending on the severity of the offense, deputies mandate community
service up to 50 hours as punishment.

Efforts now are focused on the 32502 ZIP code - the Pine Forest area -
where research shows the most juvenile arrests - 1,200 - were made in 2000,
Blake said. The grant funds two overtime deputies to implement the program
in that ZIP code.

But Blake has attended shift musters countywide, and will make the program
available to all patrol deputies at the Sheriff's Office.

"Every deputy will have a citation book," he said. "Next I'm going out to
the beach. As the temperatures warm up, so does all the activity out there.
They deal with a lot of underage drinking."

Blake plans to expand the juvenile work projects to include graffiti
abatement. Businesses that supply the paint may place their names on a list
and receive free labor.

Both the State Attorney's Office and Chief Circuit Judge John Kuder had to
agree before the program could be put in place.

Juvenile prosecutors applaud the effort. It provides an appropriate
punishment and lightens the load on the court system, they say.

"Anytime we can divert first-time misdemeanors out it's always good," said
assistant state attorney Marjy Anders. Wading through the courts can take
months and often includes compulsory community service anyway, she said.
Anders estimates that in the program's first month, her office has
processed about six civil citations a week, but that number is expected to
grow.

"What's nice about the civil citation, if there aren't any truancy problems
or problems at home, the response is immediate."