Shoplifters schooled on repercussions
A two-week, take home, pass-fail class with two, 15-minute meetings and only one test: Many IU students would jump at the opportunity for a course like this mid-semester. \nBut it doesn't appear on the 2005-2006 schedule of classes. \nIt's called the Shoplifter's Alternative. The course is a shoplifting prevention program allowing first-time offenders a chance to learn how their actions affect their families, futures and communities. If passed, law enforcers have the crime taken off the participants' records. \nThe course is part of four programs Monroe County offers at the Community Justice & Mediation Center. The center offers the separate court-mandated shoplifting course for first-time offending adults and juveniles to clear their records. They are also referred to two volunteer mediation programs to resolve conflicts with the involved parties through restorative justice instead of punishment. \nMonroe County Prosecutor Carl Salzmann specified the profile of a potential candidate for the program. \n"When the perpetrator is remorseful, accepts responsibility for their actions, is a first-time offender and the crime is for under a couple hundred dollars, we use the diversionary program," he said. \nIn the United States, more than 10 million shoplifters went through the justice system in the last five years, according to the National Association for Shoplifting Prevention, an organization that also reported that shoplifters are caught only once out of 48 times they steal. NASP's studies also found that one out of every 11 Americans have shoplifted. \nThe Victim-Offender Reconciliation Program began in Bloomington in 1997 to allow the guilty parties of vandalism or property damage to meet their victim face to face, focusing on what the offender can do to make the situation right with the victim. \nThese meetings have actually been quite successful, said Amy Dowell, executive director of the program. Dowell, the only full-time employee, and more than 50 volunteers work to meet individually with the perpetrators. \n"Oh, (the meetings) are wonderful," she said. "They have a lot of important things to say to each other -- and are glad they did it."\nThe VORP program saw more than 50 victims and offenders in 2004 with 70 percent of the offenders being male juveniles, according to its pamphlet.\nWhile running VORP, Dowell said she noticed that although vandals were able to meet with their victims, shoplifters were not, so CJMC started the Youth Educational Shoplifting program in 2000 and the Shoplifters' Alternative course for adults in 2004 to provide them with the program that has been successful for other types of offenders.\nThe programs began as, according to its Web site, as "an offense-specific program that helps participants identify the feelings, thoughts and actions which led them to shoplift and how to make better choices in the future."\nNot every shoplifting case makes it to the CJMC. Dowell estimates that they see about 10 percent of all shoplifting crimes in Bloomington. YES has seen more than 215 cases since 2000, and SA has seen more than 100, according to their records. \nIf Salzmann and other prosecutors think the program is a fit for the offender, they refer the perpetrator to CMJC for the $60 mandatory two-week course.\nTucked between strip malls, a stone's throw from College Mall, the CJMC meets with its participants in an inconspicuous location. A conference room and a couple of small offices are decorated with signs like "Life has conflict ... We can help" and "We are a peaceful community." The program site is well at a distance from the Justice building. \nAt the first meeting, a trained volunteer spends 15 minutes with the perpetrators to allow them to tell their sides of the story. Before they leave, CJMC provides the participants with resources, which consist of a home study kit including a CD and workbook.\n"The perpetrator comes back two weeks later to test (his or her) level of understanding," said volunteer and IU student Amanda Ferguson. "We do risk assessment, and plan a way for them to avoid committing another crime."\nAccording to studies done in Florida on the effectiveness of these types of programs, committing another crime, has been shown at less than 3 percent. It is difficult to corroborate the numbers, though, since NASP reports shoplifters are caught once in every 48 times and are turned over to police only half of those times.\nDowell said she still has bigger goals for the programs. She said she would like to see College Mall and relatives of shoplifters send more cases her way. \nDowell said S.A. seldom receives cases from College Mall, except for Target and Claire's, and has never had someone come to the program without a legal referral. \n"I really love my job," she said. "It's hard not having funding, having to scrape by, but it's really rewarding. There's too much to do and not enough people"