Crime

Youth Court Gives First Time Youth Offenders a Second Chance Through Restorative Justice

Published

9 years ago

January 23, 2017

Continuing the successful Donald P. McCullum Youth Court, founded in 1994, Centerforce non-profit, headed by interim director Dolores Lyles, now oversees the program.

The program serves youth age 12-17, and gradPuates about 15-20 students a year.

Meant to divert youth from juvenile hall, Youth Court has two basic components: the Youth Offenders Program for first-time misdemeanor offenders, and the Law & Justice Program, an intense program which teaches students all aspects of law and courtroom processes.

Alana Russaw, with a Psy.D., in Clinical Psychology, is the Youth Court Program Manager and part-time facilitators, Angela Adams, Law and Justice Coordinator, and Leslie Santiago, Lead Case Manager, complete the team.

“We want to get the word out,” says Dr. Russaw. “Youth Court is a diversion program meant to serve Alameda County youth – we want to keep them out of juvenile hall and put them on a good path forward.

Dr. Russaw said staff reach out to youth probation, police, schools, churches, parents, and community groups for referral for both first time offenders and volunteers.

“We want more case referrals and more youth and adult volunteers,” she said.

And Youth Court really is an official courtroom hearing, staffed by trained youth in courtroom roles, with adult guest judges, and with a “sentence” given by the youth’s peers. After completing their “sentence” – perhaps classes, community service, a letter of apology – graduates records are cleared by the Youth Probation Department.

Key partners with Youth Court are Wendy Still, the new Probation Department Chief Program Officer, Jennifer Brown, Division Director of Alameda County Juvenile Field Services, and Stacy Wooten, Deputy Chief of Probation.

Graduates also come back to volunteer. “This program meant a lot to me,” said Marshall McMahon, a former offender ten years ago, and now a volunteer.

“I want to give back to other kids, and eventually become a filmmaker.”

Field trips are also part of the program. Dr. Russaw and Ms. Adams will take 8 students to a Labor and Occupational Health Program academy at UC Berkeley, January 26-28, to learn workplace rituals promoting health and safety.

Dr. Russaw emphasized, “We want youth on a good path forward. Our goal is to help students get into college whether their passion is law and justice or not!”

For more information: Call Program Manager Dr. Russaw, 510-773-2502, or go to www.centerforce1.org.

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Oakland Post: Week of December 24 – 30, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of – December 24 – 30, 2025

Published

3 days ago

December 25, 2025

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Council Expands Citywide Security Cameras Despite Major Opposition

In a 7-1 vote in favor of the contract, with only District 3 Councilmember Carroll Fife voting no, the Council agreed to maintain its existing network of 291 cameras and add 40 new “pan-tilt-zoom cameras.”

Published

1 week ago

December 21, 2025

Oakland Post

At the International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference, Flock Safety introduces new public safety technology – Amplified Intelligence, a suite of AI-powered tools designed to improve law enforcement investigations. Courtesy photo.

By Post Staff

The Oakland City Council this week approved a $2.25 million contract with Flock Safety for a mass surveillance network of hundreds of security cameras to track vehicles in the city.

In recent weeks hundreds of local residents have spoken against the camera system, raising concerns that data will be shared with immigration authorities and other federal agencies at a time when mass surveillance is growing across the country with little regard for individual rights.

The Flock network, supported by the Oakland Police Department, has the backing of residents and councilmembers who see it as an important tool to protect public safety.

“This system makes the Department more efficient as it allows for information related to disruptive/violent criminal activities to be captured … and allows for precise and focused enforcement,” OPD wrote in its proposal to City Council.

According to OPD, police made 232 arrests using data from Flock cameras between July 2024 and November of this year.

Based on the data, police say they recovered 68 guns, and utilizing the countywide system, they have found 1,100 stolen vehicles.

However, Flock’s cameras cast a wide net. The company’s cameras in Oakland last month captured license plate numbers and other information from about 1.4 million vehicles.

Speaking at Tuesday’s Council meeting, Fife was critical of her colleagues for signing a contract with a company that has been in the national spotlight for sharing data with federal agencies.

Flock’s cameras – which are automated license plate readers – have been used in tracking people who have had abortions, monitoring protesters, and aiding in deportation roundups.

“I don’t know how we get up and have several press conferences talking about how we are supportive of a sanctuary city status but then use a vendor that has been shown to have a direct relationship with (the U.S.) Border Control,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Several councilmembers who voted in favor of the contract said they supported the deal as long as some safeguards were written into the Council’s resolution.

“We’re not aiming for perfection,” said District 1 Councilmember Zac Unger. “This is not Orwellian facial recognition technology — that’s prohibited in Oakland. The road forward here is to add as many amendments as we can.”

Amendments passed by the Council prohibit OPD from sharing camera data with any other agencies for the purpose of “criminalizing reproductive or gender affirming healthcare” or for federal immigration enforcement. California state law also prohibits the sharing of license plate reader data with the federal government, and because Oakland’s sanctuary city status, OPD is not allowed to cooperate with immigration authorities.

A former member of Oakland’s Privacy Advisory Commission has sued OPD, alleging that it has violated its own rules around data sharing.

So far, OPD has shared Flock data with 50 other law enforcement agencies.