Victims of Vandalism Demand to Be Heard

MIKE MOTZ

Sidney Sun-Telegraph

SIDNEY--On Tuesday, August 6, a meeting was held at the Cheyenne County Attorney's office between representatives of the Living Memorial Gardens at Legion Park and the Cheyenne County Attorney's office. The meeting was called due to frustrations surrounding the recent spate of vandalism that has been occurring at the Living Memorial Gardens, and the lack of communication between the County Attorney's office and the Living Memorial Gardens group. Living Memorial Gardens President Coleen Langdon and a group of LMG members set up the meeting with County Attorney Paul Schaub and his staff to clear the air and develop a path forward to better communicate the status of the vandalism cases and get a better focus on preventing future incidents from occurring. Rita Schinzel-Anest was also in attendance representing the Angel of Hope group, which has also recently reported incidents of vandalism of the Angel statue.

The meeting started with a contentious exchange between Langdon and Paul Schaub and Chief Deputy County Attorney Amber Horn. Schaub noted the importance of the Living Memorial Gardens and the project to restore and repurpose the Bathhouse facility. He asked to hear questions about what his office has been doing and wished to explain what can and cannot be done by the county attorney's office to create a better understanding and expectations between the two groups.

Langdon responded, saying the Living Memorial Garden group had received no communications from the county attorney's office, and that Schaub had to deal with "a bunch of angry people who had enough" of the situation. Langdon also clarified that she asked for this meeting, not the county attorney's office. Rita Schinzel-Anest added that there have been repeated vandalism incidents at the Angel of Hope statue for over a year. Langdon said the most recent incident had her leave the LMG area, and within 45 minutes the Sidney Police Department was calling about another vandalism incident. She also said that she had provided an estimate of the dollar amount of damage that had been caused to the Sidney Police Department, and then never heard back from the department.

She then talked about the damage that was done to the dedicated bench, multiple incidents of spray painting vandalism, and damage done to the Angel of Hope gate. She said it is a relatively small group of teenage offenders, and many times it's the same teens over and over again. Although video cameras with infrared capabilities have been installed throughout the LMG and Legion Park area to provide footage of the incidents to the Sidney Police Department, Langdon said the group never hears back from the Sidney Police Department.

Schaub then said that he understood the frustration and said that many of these cases were being handled in juvenile court. As for restitution, the main issue is that the juvenile or parent has to show the ability to pay, which is usually not the case. Langdon was not pleased that Schaub interrupted what she was saying and stated these incidents had been going on for years with no resolution or communication as to what was happening to the LMG group. She then said that she and her members understand the law, but that they have had no representation in these matters and they are never contacted. "We have no voice," she said.

Langdon and the group went on to say that they are not necessarily looking for monetary compensation, as legally it would be difficult to recover money in these cases. However, they would like to see more community service assigned to the youthful offenders, not just the 20 hours that have usually been assigned. In these cases, it's usually difficult to go after the parents as they do not have any assets or money. It was suggested that part of the offender's punishment is to have them repair the damage they had caused. The authorities, either Sidney Police or Cheyenne County Sheriffs, usually know quickly who is responsible for these incidents. If the group cannot get restitution they insist that the offenders, especially the repeat offenders, receive much greater punishment.

Deputy Chief Attorney Amber Horn then spoke of a few specific incidents, particularly the incident when youths climbed onto the roof of the bathhouse and dropped inside to do damage, and said that the "ringleader" of that group was taken out of the community. Horn then took full responsibility for the lack of communication between law enforcement and the LMG group. Often these cases get transferred out of Cheyenne County due to conflicts of interest concerning either the offender or their parents and members of law enforcement or the legal system. When such a case gets transferred to Ogallala Scottsbluff, for example, lines of communication are never established.

The members of LMG said they acknowledged the reasons behind the lack of communication but also remained firm that something needed to be done moving forward. Langdon said, "The worst part about all of this is that it's hurting our fundraising efforts on the Bathhouse Project. People who had donated in the past are saying why should we donate money to something that's just going to get vandalized anyway?"

The meeting then switched to an effort to find a path forward and figure out solutions to these problems. The LMG group said that a communications protocol with victims of vandalism needs to be established. Langdon then noted that the protocol must be in writing and followed. Langdon and the group then expressed their frustration over the community service requirements that have been part of the juvenile offenders' punishments. The group detailed a recent incident when two teens were required to do community service at the LMG site. "Nobody told us anything, nobody communicated anything, they were just dropped on us. We weren't given any instruction on how to deal with these kids," said Langdon. She said on the first day, the two did pretty well, listening to what they were told to do and putting in some effort at their tasks. However, the second day was not as successful. One of the teens showed up 25 minutes late for his service. Both teens refused to put away their smartphones and focus on their tasks. The teen who showed up late bumped his lip on a wheelbarrow, drawing a little blood but not a serious cut in any way, and then decided to walk away and go home. Langdon said, "These kids just seem like they believe they can do whatever they want, that there's no deterrent and nobody would stop them."

The group said that the teens should be given additional community service hours or some other type of penalty, as apparently what has been being done is proving to be not enough of a deterrent. Cheyenne County Attorney's Office Youth Services Coordinator Georgia Rogers was also sitting in on the meeting, and she said it is not that simple to just add on time when hours of service are missed. The mediation process had not been completed, and another meeting with the judge and the mediators had to be held before adjusting the sentences the youths had received, which was frustrating to the LMG group. Horn noted that they have had trouble getting adults to monitor youth community service requirements and there has not been much cooperation with the City of Sidney. The group expressed frustration about cases being assigned to other jurisdictions and the seeming lack of oversight on the offenders. Langdon noted that they've tried to do things at the Gardens to help prevent vandalism, like locking the bathrooms, which causes a big inconvenience to visitors of the gardens and Legion Park. A discussion was then held about establishing a mentoring program for at-risk youths, perhaps with retired people or older members of the community. Schaub said the focus should be on preventing these teens from making these bad choices rather than coming in after the fact to deal with the situation.

The group resolved to make sure communication between law enforcement, court officials, and victims of vandalism was happening on an immediate and regular basis. Langon noted that none of the LMG group received a copy of the Mediation Agreements, and how they were to administer the community service requirements of the offenders was not clear. Also, the group wanted to know why repeat offenders often receive such light punishments. Schaub said there was a concerted effort to keep youths out of the juvenile justice system. When an offender has no record, if the offense is not deemed very serious, they are usually offered Diversion. According to the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice website, "Juvenile pretrial diversion is a voluntary program available to youth with a minor law violation or status offense. Generally, diversion is available pre-filing, diverting youth from involvement in the juvenile justice system and into a program offering a continuum of requirements and services." However, it is left up to each county to craft their Diversion programs. Schaub noted that Mediation and Diversion is relatively new for the Cheyenne County Attorney's office, and he said that victims can sue for breach of the Diversion agreement. The LMG group said they felt pressured to sign off on the agreement, which they believed was too light of a punishment, and that none of the group ever received a copy of the agreement. The feeling was the process was rushed, and they were trying to get the teens to complete their community service requirements before the new school year began.

By the end of the meeting, the groups agreed to set up an email group that will be immediately notified of any vandalism or criminal incidents at LMG, and will also receive updates on the legal process of offenders. A written protocol on how these incidents will be reported from the beginning through the final resolution will be drafted. Better communications involving the mediation process, including the responsibilities of offenders and consequences for not fulfilling those responsibilities in writing, will be established. Although it is a frustrating issue that affects the entire community, the positive result of the meeting is that efforts will be made to keep lines of communication open between the legal system and victims of crime. Many errors in the past were made, and that fact was acknowledged by the County Attorney's office, however, the group is committed to rectifying that situation moving forward. If you have become a victim of vandalism or other crimes caused by juvenile offenders, do not hesitate to call the County Attorney's office at (308) 254-6060 and get informed of the status of legal proceedings in your case. There will be times when some information is not legally allowed to be disclosed, however, most frustrations around these incidents come from a lack of communication between the parties. The Cheyenne County Attorney's Office is committed to as much disclosure as legally possible, and helping to prevent these incidents from occurring.