The Hinsdalean_2019-02-14

ASK AN EXPERT DANIEL MAZEPA, SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER

How does peer jury help good kids learn from bad choices? Sometimes good kids do dumb things. Hinsdale Police Officer Daniel Mazepa, school resource offi- cer at Hinsdale Central High School, isn’t the only one who believes that in these cases, kids deserve a second chance. That’s the idea behind the relaunch of the Downers Grove Regional Peer Jury Program. Now in its secondmonth, the program allows officers from several area towns to assign certain nonviolent teen offenders to the peer jury rather than the court system. Participating in the revamped program are Hinsdale, Burr Ridge, Clarendon Hills, Darien, Downers Grove, Oak Brook andWillowbrook. Mazepa said the peer jury is intended for misdemeanor offens- es, especially those committed by residents of the participating towns who have not been in trouble before. Retail theft, property damage, pos- session of cannabis under a certain

future bad behavior without perma- nent consequences such as a police record. If a teen successfully fulfills the sentence handed down by the peer jury, formal charges are never filed. If they fail to comply with the assigned consequences, charges are filed and the teen proceeds through the regu- lar court system. The current pool of 36 teen jurors includes about a dozen from Hinsdale Central High School, Mazepa said. They were sworn in last October by DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and will con- tinue to hear cases throughout the six-month pilot program. As jurors, teens attempt to under- stand why their peer committed the offense. They then work together to determine consequences they believe will help the offender under- stand what he or she did wrong, whom it hurt and why the behavior should not be repeated. Mazepa said he believes the peer jury programworks because teens generally care about what other teens think. “When they hear it coming from their peers rather from adults, it has a little bit more of an effect,” he said. —by Sandy Illian Bosch

amount, alcohol possession and fighting are all offenses that could land a first-time offender in peer jury. “For them, hopefully it’s some- thing that they’re going to learn from. Those are the ones that are going to benefit frompeer jury,” saidMazepa, who added that each arresting officer has the option to assign a teen to the program. Made up of high school students, the jury’s job isn’t to determine innocence or guilt. In fact, a young offender must plead guilty and waive attorney representation before appearing before the jury. The teen, along with their parents, also must agree to abide by whatever conse- quences the peer jury believes will help them to learn from their mis- take. Sentences commonly include attempts to abate the damage caused by the teen’s actions and poor deci- sions. Apologies to those harmed by the young person’s actions, essays and research papers, and commu- nity service are the most common consequences, Mazepa said. Charges involving drugs or alcohol might result in an order to attend a pro- gram about substance abuse. The goal of the peer jury, Mazepa said, is to allow young people to learn from a bad decision and avoid

Hinsdale Police Officer Daniel Mazepa, school resource officer at Hinsdale Central High School, has a new tool to help students to learn from bad decisions. The Downers Grove Township Peer Jury program is a chance for certain young offenders to face the consequences of their actions while avoiding court and for- mal charges. (Jim Slonoff photo)

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Page 16 • February 14, 2019 • The Hinsdalean