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FROM DAN GILMARTIN

----- Original Message -----
From: Dan Gilmartin
To: Bob Baird
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2005 7:52 PM
Subject: Stuff I Don't Know


> Bob:
> Tryin here to get thru your poetic style:
> What is this "drop station" for Juvies??
>
> Also: Nutrias ??? I know nothing. Help me
> on this.
>
> ...Danno
>
>
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Dan --

A nutria is a South American rodent. Looks like a cross between a rat and a beaver and grows to aboout 20 pounds. Brasilian and Argentinian peasants live off the things. They dig out dens in the bank of rivers and lakes and generally make themselves unloved by property owners. But... a twenty pound edible rat!

The cops call the JAC a "drop station" because they can just drop a juvenile off and they are processed here and the cop can get back onto the street. Juveniles are a real problem for the cops because in spite of the fact that kids are often dangerous, their dependency status (juvenile and not sui juris) means that they can't just take them to 33rd St. The juvenile system exists so that these kids can be "assessed" to determine if they are a threat to the community. Before the JAC was created 10 years ago cops had to take a kid in to the station and get someone, like a judge, to determine if they needed to be incarcerated. Pain. The Juvenile Assessment Center in Orlando was the very first facility in the country to provide "one stop" service so that a cop could bring the kid to us and secure the reptile, get all the stuff the kid needs (detox, diversion, release functions similar to pre trial release, foster care handling, and on and on and on. I even do child protection investigation and home studies for DCF).

If I'd found this job twenty years ago I'd have quit teaching to do it. Think about how many times you've stood in front of a class and thought "Man, I wish I could MAKE that kid do what I want!" Well, if I'm a kid's JPO and he doesn't do what he's told... I'll put him in jail. I can feel you smiling Dan.

Bob
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Sorry. I wasn't trying to talk in code. Bad habit.

Bob