In the wake of windows intentionally broken in downtown Santa Cruz, there has been a tremendous reaction from the community. In many ways, Pacific Ave. represents the heart of our town, so it’s as if our very own hearts have been trampled.

I was surprised to see the City Council’s quick reaction to beef up the police department. This is the very same reaction that happened after 9/11, and what many of us started experiencing was more of a police state. Is that what we want? It seems our reactive response is to find who did it and punish them as if that will solve the problem. In the meantime, our jails and prisons keep growing, and violence increases.

Maybe it’s time we start asking deeper and more penetrating questions like how is the health of our community? Are our children given every opportunity to be supported, nurtured, and educated? What about our elders? Are their needs being met? What structures support us and how can we increase trust, safety, and connection in our community where people have no desire to throw objects through windows or hurt people.

While I do not condone violence, I think it’s important for us to ask ourselves why a few people would be inclined toward this kind of behavior. What needs of theirs are not being met? What statement were they wanting to make?

It’s been said that harmed people harm people. Healed people heal people. If we are to interrupt the cycle of violence in our communities, if we are to bring peace to the streets of Santa Cruz, we need a justice system that heals.

More and more communities are finding a solution in a restorative justice process, a system that asks the following questions, “what happened?”, “who was affected?”, and “what can we do as a community to make things right again?” We are experiencing a shift away from a system that is punitive to one that is healing, from retribution to restoration. It is my dream that Santa Cruz will follow that path.