THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 10, 1996 TAG: 9609100246
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 53 lines
Commonwealth's Attorney C. Phillips Ferguson uses a two-pronged approach in dealing with juvenile crime: Prevent what you can and prosecute swiftly and surely those you can't.
``It's kind of like the carrot and stick,'' says Ferguson, 47, who has been in office for 18 1/2 years.
And with violent juvenile crimes expected to continue to increase, Ferguson is adding a new prosecutor to his staff to handle cases of juveniles charged as adults.
``The General Assembly has said the volume of juvenile crimes is expected to skyrocket over the next 10 years,'' he said Monday. ``We'd better be prepared for it.''
Under the Juvenile Justice Reform Act approved by the General Assembly last year, teen-agers 14 to 17 who commit certain violent felonies - capital murder, murder, murder by lynching and aggravated malicious wounding - must be tried as adults in Circuit Court.
And those juveniles must be tried in Circuit Court for several other offenses including robbery, carjacking, rape and felony homicide, if the commonwealth's attorney requests a transfer.
Those cases previously had been tried in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, where the trials and outcomes were generally closed to the public and the penalties were less severe than in Circuit Court.
Ferguson intends for the new prosecutor to join his staff of seven assistants in January. A new legal secretary will assist the lawyer. Both positions are being funded in part by the state compensation board under a funding initiative to hire nearly 100 more prosecutors and about 55 support staff in prosecutors' offices across the state.
The only way to reduce juvenile crime, Ferguson said, is for parents to teach positive values when the children are young.
``It's parental responsibility,'' he emphasized - and added that communities also must work together to help with prevention.
Two years ago, Ferguson's office started the Crime-Free Schools program to work on prevention, offer advice to school administrators and to prosecute all crimes - misdemeanors and felonies - that occur at school. One of the prevention strategies is to bring middle school students to court to watch a trial.
``It's a reality check,'' Ferguson said.
Last year, his office prosecuted 31 cases that originated at the schools, he said.
In effect, the General Assembly has toughened the criminal justice system in dealing with juvenile offenders, Ferguson said.
``Essentially, the word going out to juveniles is: Commit a violent crime today and if you're 14 years old or older, you may end up in Circuit Court and be subject to adult penalities.''
KEYWORDS: JUVENILE CRIME by CNB