Teens Charged With Vandalism Referred To Program
LONGMONT, Colo. (CBS4) - Three teenagers face charges in a string of vandalism cases in Longmont.
Police say there were at least 22 cases of vandalism in the 2200 block of Judson Street, including damaged street lights, mailboxes and an RV.
Instead of jail the teens are going through a special program.
Greg Nees lives on the street where it happened.
"Angry kids, I would assume. Seems more like anger to me than boredom," Nees said.
Even though the teens were arrested, Nees said he's glad to hear they've been referred to the Restorative Justice Program, something that he's worked on in the past.
"They work at trying to bring the offenders together with the people who were perpetrated upon and try to resolve the harm," Nees said.
Deb Witzle is the executive director of the partnership that runs the program. She says it keeps offenders out of jail and teaches them to take responsibility for their actions while they come face-to-face with the people they've hurt.
"For the offenders, mainly it helps them learn from what happened and it builds empathy so they begin to understand that they have an impact," Witzle said.
"All that energy that these kids have and if we could somehow channel it productively it would be so much better for all of us," Nees said.
Longmont police say the damage will cost at least a few thousand dollars to repair.
