Officer Robert Rico of the Boerne Police Department is working on a restorative justice program for first-time juvenile offenders. Photo by David Basarich

Robert Rico, a Boerne police officer, says he has a plan that is tougher on crime than punishing criminals. He wants criminals and victims to work together to heal the wounds that crime inflicts on society.

Rico, a San Antonio native, has been a Boerne police officer for 18 years and teaches criminal justice at UTSA. His experience as a police officer and his studies culminating in a master's degree in public administration have prompted him to pursue a more preventative way of promoting a stronger community through the justice process.

"Crimes are more than laws being broken," says Michael Gilbert, Rico's colleague at UTSA. "[Crimes] are harms to people and harms to the community." Restorative justice is an alternative to the traditional punitive system in that it holds offenders, who often do not understand the harm they cause in society, or (who) rationalize their behavior, accountable to the individuals, families and communities that they affect.

Rico is the coordinator of the Kendall County Restorative Justice Program. The program's stated purpose is "promoting equitable justice through early intervention and non-adversarial conferencing." Rico has conducted four family-group conferences involving six juvenile offenders since the program's inception in May 2007.

He says that the Kendall County program only works with first-time, juvenile offenders with misdemeanor crimes at the moment, but many other communities practice restorative methods with adults who commit more serious crimes.

Gilbert says that restorative justice programs are a more cost-effective way of fighting crime, considering the non-recidivism, or repeat offenses by the same person, rates among those who go through the process.

He says such a system has the priceless effect of restoring wounds that crime creates in society.

In addition, Gilbert says, "restorative processes are very tough on offenders." He says he has known offenders who would rather go to prison than face the personal accountability required by restorative justice processes.

The program focuses on juvenile offenders to stop the pattern of crime, Rico says. Once a juvenile offender is labeled a "criminal," he or she may never shake that label and continue down a path of crime into adulthood. Rico says that 80 percent of the people who go through a restorative justice program do not repeat their crimes.

The Boerne Police Department applied for a $77,000 grant in February on behalf of the Restorative Justice Program that would allow Rico to work on the program full time and provide money for other staff and resources necessary for the program's operation.