There are a few connections that can be made linking three of the stories in today’s paper: The DA’s release of the investigation of the officer-involved shooting death of a teen, an open house at San Joaquin County Juvenile Hall and the appointment of a new Chief Probation Officer Stephanie James.
James Rivera, the slain teen, was one of more than 20 juveniles to escape detention at one time or another during 2010, which prompted the Board of Supervisors to approve building better fencing. But Rivera and the others escaped from Camp Peterson, not the more secure Juvenile Hall, as then-Assistant Chief Probation Officer Stephanie James explained after the shooting death of Rivera in 2010. In May of that year, when Rivera escaped, there were eight people who escaped from Camp Peterson.
And when the Probation Department opened its doors to the public yesterday to take a look behind the scenes of juvenile detention in the county, the tour wasn’t scheduled to include Camp Peterson.
