A new program would put victims and criminals face to face but is mediation enough punishment. Missouri State University and the Greene County Prosecutor's Office say it might do even more for victims than the regular revolving door justice system. The key part of this program is everyone involved must be willing, that means the victim and the offender. KSPR asked recent victims of a tire slashing spree if their inconvenience and loss of money could be settle out of court and in mediation.

James and Christine Bynum are out about $250 bucks after someone slashed four tires on their car. James Bynum says, "We were without transportation until we got it finished and I got pretty angry." Many property crimes like this leave victims angry and inconvenienced but they rarely feel vindicated. In Greene County punishment could soon be solved out of court, instead victims could look the criminal in the eye. Two trained mediators from Missouri State's dispute resolution center would sit down in a neutral place with both parties. MSU Dispute Resolution Center Director Char Berquist says, "That way offenders see the human dimension of their crime and it also allows them to make amends.”

James likes the idea of giving the person who slashed his tires a piece of his mind. His wife does too but wonders if they'd get repaid for their tires. Christine Bynum says, "I think the people that do this probably don't have the finances to take care of repayment."
The out of court mediation would allow the victim to choose restitution that's meaningful to them, whether that’s the cost of the crime, or community service chosen by the victim. Berquist says, "When you bring people together, the bravado of the offender and anger of the victim melt away." Just in case, both parties have an opportunity to leave we rarely have that happen.

Program directors say it will also take a load of cases out of Greene County's backlogged courtrooms and speeding up the process for everyone. Greene County Prosecutor Darrell Moore says, "It will have more of an impact than the cattle call we have upstairs in the associate court." James says, "I'm kind of for the forgiveness when I can get my temper in control. So I think I could be for that."

The program will likely get started in March of next year. MSU’s Conflict Resolution Center has been offering the very same program to juveniles for a year now. This new program will be offered to adults.

All mediators are volunteers from the community who go through professional training at MSU.