TU: Panel discusses juvenile justice, terrorism and public safety at event hosted by FSCJ, Strayer U
Times-Union
By Joe Daraskevich
Organizers tried to bring together various experts from across the area to start the discussion with interested audience members, but the event also was meant to bring together students interested in criminal justice.
Strayer University partnered with FSCJ to create the event with the hope it will become an annual occurrence on the First Coast. Ken Amaro of First Coast News moderated a lively discussion with the panel.
He asked how vulnerable the Northeast Florida area is to a terrorist attack, and Special Agent James Van Pelt with the FBI responded about how he used to live in a small Tennessee town with a chemical plant that made the area more vulnerable to a terrorist attack. But that was years ago, he said, and terrorists can operate from anywhere in the world with advancements in technology and the rise of social media.
The panel noted a recent case in Orange Park where a young man was arrested on charges of distributing information related to explosives, destructive devices and weapons of mass destruction. The group agreed it’s now very important for law enforcement agencies to share information to help track potential terror suspects.
“We all have to work together, knowing what each other knows,” said Maj. Mike Hardee of the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.
The panel concentrated on juvenile justice for most of the night and 4th Circuit Public Defender Matt Shirk talked about how police officers are now in schools compared to when he was growing up and teachers and coaches took care of discipline.
Now, students are more likely to be sent to jail for incidents at schools.
Crime analyst Ken Jefferson said that when some children or adults are sent to prison or jailed, they treat it like its not a big deal. He said the facilities where convicts are held should be examined and they should not be comfortable places with drugs and weapons available to inmates if they know where to find them.
Some offenders get locked up with no gang affiliation and come out full-fledged gang members, Jefferson said. He said it’s important to guide children in the right direction while they are still young and not influenced by the wrong people.
“Families are not parenting properly and we have generations of families who haven’t been parenting properly,” said Carmella Prescott of Daniel Kids.
Hardee discussed the need to study youth who are incarcerated to find out where they went wrong so organizations like Daniel Kids can do everything possible to help children in need of guidance.
Don Redman, a former Jacksonville City Council member, told the crowd how each year there is a heated discussion to decide how much money all the departments of government should get.
“There’s never enough money,” he said.
Joel Balante, a former undersheriff with the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, talked about how many felons are walking the streets after serving sentences.
He said other countries have different ways of disciplining criminals so they don’t have to use tax dollars to incarcerate the convicted.
But when a member of the audience suggested “cruel and unusual punishment” to discipline offenders during the question-and-answer segment of the night, most of the panel bristled at the idea.
“I’m not sure who would propose a bill like that,” Amaro said.
Ashley Barrow, 19, is a student at FSCJ studying criminal justice. She said she came to the discussion hoping to meet some people working in her future profession.
The excitement of meeting people from the FBI and the Department of Justice mixed with the information the experts shared was a terrific opportunity, she said.
Barrow said she hopes the event grows next year.
Joe Daraskevich: (904) 359-4308