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7A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2017 County: Juvenile referrals are made by law enforcement after arrests Continued from Page 1 Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian Officers confront an individual playing the part of an active shooter. Training: ‘Communication is key because it’s mass chaos’ Continued from Page 1A Officers attended class- room lectures at Knappa High School on mass shooter response before heading to nearby Hilda Lahti and arm- ing themselves with rifles and pistols loaded with sim- ulation rounds. The officers practiced moving in forma- tions and clearing hallways and rooms. Craig Miller, a maritime enforcement specialist with the Coast Guard, spent Mon- day as a responder and Tues- day as a mass shooter stopped by responding officers. Local agencies would respond to a mass shooter event on base along with the Coast Guard’s security teams. “Communication is key, because it’s mass chaos,” Miller said. Around 600 police from more than 30 agencies responded to the shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999, said Sgt. Jason Hoover during a class- room session. But responses in rural areas often depend on whoever is closest, regardless of agency, and officers don’t have time to wait for backup. “You may be on your own, and chaos will reign,” Hoover said. “Your No. 1 job at that point is to reach the threat” to limit casualties. Participants had to make life-or-death decisions to engage shooters surrounded by innocents. “You rely on muscle memory,” Deputy Siscilee Gouge said of making such split-second decisions. Stephanie Baldwin is a library assistant at Knappa, where her own children attend school. She played a victim fleeing and directing officers toward the shooter, while her husband, Nathen, a sheriff’s deputy, was one of the responding officers. She spent the first scenario hunched in a corner, watching how it played out. Listening to the approaching gunshots and thinking of her co-work- ers and children in such a sit- uation was gut-wrenching, she said. “It made it too real,” she said. “I saw all the kids art- work on the walls as we worked, along with my own kids’, and it was painful to think of any of those chil- dren being harmed. But it did make me realize that in an event I need to have good information to pass on.” Nathen Baldwin said it was especially difficult to pass his children’s classrooms and wife’s office, knowing they could be victims. “I feel it was good for my wife to experience this train- ing,” he said. “We as a family commonly discuss the possi- bility of these horrible events happening in our community, and what our options would be. I feel this training helped Stephanie better prepare for such incidents.” several indicators, from health and child welfare to financial stability and education. “When I look at the report, and look at all of the different data, I would say it’s unfortu- nate that we’re in a high referral rate county, but I wouldn’t say I’m surprised that we are,” said Greg Engbretson, the director of the Clatsop County Juvenile Department. Obvious patterns The county’s juvenile refer- ral rate in 2016 — 25.8 per 1,000 young people up to age 17 — was considerably higher than the statewide rate of 13.6. For Engbretson, the report outlined obvious patterns that distinguish Clatsop from coun- ties with lower juvenile referral rates. Clatsop was ranked 34th last year in third-grade math profi- ciency, 27th in eighth-grade math proficiency, 25th in both third and eighth-grade English language arts proficiency, 25th in graduation, 24th in teen preg- nancy and 29th in homeless students. “These are not ‘excuses’ for the county’s high rate of juvenile referrals but provide some background information regarding why they may be what they are,” Engbretson said in an email. Clatsop has long had a hard-drinking culture that can influence underage drinking. The Oregon Student Wellness Survey has found that county teenagers have higher rates of alcohol use than the state average. Over the past few years, after marijuana was legalized for recreational use in July 2015, the county has also seen a spike in marijuana-related offenses among young people. “This has been pretty clear to us, that ever since some of the marijuana legislation has changed — the laws in Oregon — that we have definitely seen an increase of juvenile refer- rals for marijuana,” Engbret- son said. Oregon juvenile referral rates by county, 2016 (Rate per 1,000 youth, ages 0-17.) County Baker Malheur Clatsop Wasco Wheeler Morrow Curry Crook Deschutes Tillamook Klamath Hood River Lake Douglas Umatilla Jefferson Columbia Jackson Linn Union Wallowa Marion Harney Josephine Lane Gilliam Polk Lincoln Grant Clackamas Yamhill Coos Benton Washington Multnohmah Sherman Oregon 2016 total population Referrals 2016 Referrals 2015 Percent change 16,059 30,439 38,632 26,115 1,344 11,274 22,713 22,570 181,307 26,143 66,443 23,232 7,837 108,457 76,456 23,080 50,785 216,527 122,849 26,087 6,946 336,316 7,292 85,904 369,519 1,854 81,823 47,806 7,158 408,062 105,035 63,761 89,385 582,779 799,766 1,710 36.4 27.5 25.8 25.7 25.4 25.3 25.1 24.8 24.6 23.7 21.6 20.4 20 19.3 18.7 18.6 17.9 17.6 16.9 16.7 15.4 14.8 14.4 14.2 14.1 13.7 13.6 12.8 12.1 11.8 11.6 10.7 10.7 9.7 8.7 6.2 24 28.1 24.7 30.2 15 20.4 28.5 32 23.9 27.2 22.8 24.8 18.5 19.8 20.2 20.9 14 19.6 16.9 14 14.2 16.1 10.8 15 14.4 14.1 12.4 13.4 19.9 12.3 15.7 13.5 10.8 10.4 9.9 16.5 52% -2 4 -15 69 24 -12 -23 3 -13 -5 -18 8 -3 -7 -11 28 -10 0 19 8 -8 33 -5 -2 -3 10 -4 -39 -4 -26 -21 -1 -7 -12 -62 4.09 million 13.6 14.7 -7 Source: Children First for Oregon District Attorney Josh Mar- quis said the county’s juve- nile referral rate should not be viewed in isolation or as a sign of disproportionate juvenile punishment. “It may be that the adults are paying more attention to kids in Clatsop County than in some more urban parts of the state,” Marquis said in an email. “I’m not sure that’s it, but factors like Alan Kenaga/EO Media Group that can affect the rate.” Declines Across Oregon, juvenile referral rates have declined, part of a public-policy choice by the juvenile justice system over the past two decades to steer young people away from detention. Some in law enforcement have complained the approach has papered over troubling lev- els of juvenile property crime and drug abuse and encour- aged counties to dismiss refer- rals without sanctions or supervision. Marquis said advocates like Children First for Oregon have clearly put a “negative value” on juvenile referrals. The county data books are financed by a grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which has sought to reduce juvenile deten- tion nationally in favor of more family-focused intervention. Juvenile referrals are made by law enforcement after arrests. Juvenile departments decide after intake — and often after consultation with prosecu- tors — whether to review and close a case, take some type of informal action, or formally petition the court. In Clatsop County last year, 72 percent of juvenile referrals were handled informally, a fig- ure that matches the statewide share. About a third of referrals involved accountability agree- ments that could trigger future consequences if violated, while the others were reviewed and closed. Of the referrals that were petitioned to court, most of the juveniles who were found delinquent received probation or formal sanction, and only a handful faced placement in a youth correctional facility or residential treatment program. Tonia Hunt, the executive director of Children First for Oregon, said the juvenile refer- ral rate category in the report “reflects the community’s involvement with youth and youth engagement with law enforcement. “Higher referral numbers don’t necessarily mean that communities have more crimi- nality,” she said in an email. “It could mean that there is more interaction with law enforce- ment. This data provides a base- line to examine patterns and what might be driving changes or variations in each county.” Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us to all of you! 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