Police Work with Juveniles
JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
THE CORE 5E
Chapter 12:
Police Work with Juveniles
History of Juvenile Policing
Specialized police services for juveniles is a recent phenomenon
Historical development of police organizations
Pledge system:
Neighbors protect each other
Watch system:
Created to police larger communities
Bobbies:
1st organized police force in London, in 1829
Sheriff:
In the American colonies
Historical development of working with juveniles
Delinquency control squads
Law Enforcement Assistance Administration
Juvenile police officer
Police and Juvenile Offenders
Primary responsibility is protection of public
Community policing emphasizes partnerships with the community
to address crime problems
Juvenile officers operate as specialists or are members of
a special unit
Role:
To intervene when actions of a citizen produce public danger or disorder
Qualifications:
Have had some general patrol experience
A desire to work with juveniles
Have a thorough knowledge of the law
Undergo special training
Police and Juvenile Offenders
Sometimes conflicts can arise when police are dealing
with juveniles
Primary duty of law enforcement vs. desire to rehabilitate youth
Best interests of child vs. discretion
Attitudes toward police:
Race: African American teens rated the police less favorably than all
other racial groups
Police contact: juveniles with prior police contact hold less favorable
attitudes toward police
Victims: juvenile crime victims are much less likely than adult victims to
contact the police
Use of juveniles as informants
True role of juvenile officer exists somewhere between law enforcer
and delinquency prevention worker
Police and Violent Juvenile Crime
Violent crime includes homicide, rape, robbery,
aggravated assault, and kidnapping
Juveniles account for 13% of all violent crime arrests
Police experiment with various methods of violent juvenile
crime control:
Directed patrols of hot spots
Proactive arrests of serious offenders
Problem oriented policing: addressing the problems underlying
incidents of juvenile delinquency rather than the incidents alone
Improving community connections is essential to
combating violent juvenile crime
Figure 12.1 Police Response to Juvenile Crime
Police and the Rule of Law
• Arrest of juveniles: • Requires probable cause
• The main difference between arrests of adults and juveniles is the broader latitude police have to control youthful behavior
• In loco parentis • “In place of the parent” • Serves as basis for taking juveniles into custody
• Search and seizure: • Most courts have held that the 4th amendment ban applies to
juveniles and that illegally seized evidence is inadmissible in a juvenile trial
• Arizona v. Gant (2009): • A person may be searched after a legal arrest, but only in the
immediate area of the suspect’s control
• See Concept Summary 12.1 for information on warrantless searches
Police and the Rule of Law
Custodial interrogation Miranda v. Arizona (1966):
They have the right to remain silent
Any statement they make can be used against them
They have the right to counsel
If they cannot afford counsel, it will be furnished at the public expense
Miranda rights apply to children taken into custody
In re Gault (1967)
Stated that constitutional privileges against self-incrimination are applicable in juvenile cases too
Most court hold that parents or attorneys need not be present for children to effectively waive their rights
The general rule is that juveniles can waive their right to protection from self-incrimination, but the validity of this waiver is determined case by case
Fare v. Michael C. and California v. Prysock
Lawsuit Filed for Illegal Search –
Current Example
Discretionary Justice
Juveniles enjoy nearly identical procedural protections as
adults
Police have broader discretion in dealing with juveniles
Factors affecting police discretion with juveniles:
Formal action:
Fair and just manner
The seriousness of the crime
The situation in which it occurred
Legal record of the juvenile
Formal action will likely occur if:
The crime is serious and has been reported by a victim who is a
respected member of the community, and if the offender is well know to
them
Discretionary Justice
• Other factors that determine police discretion: • Environmental Factors
• Norms of the community
• Community alternatives to police intervention
• Police Policy
• Directives
• Voter satisfaction
• Pressure from supervisors
• Justice in Policing
• Procedural justice:
• An evaluation of the fairness of the manner in which an offender’s or another group’s problem or dispute was handled by police
Discretionary Justice, cont.
• Other factors that determine police discretion:
• Situational factors
• The attitude of the complainant
• The attitude of the offender
• The type and seriousness of the offense
• The race, sex, and age of the offender
• The offender’s prior contacts with the police
• The perceived willingness of the parents to assist in solving
the problem (in the case of a child)
• The setting or location in which the incident occurs
• Whether the offender denies the actions or insists on a court
hearing (in the case of a child)
• The likelihood that a child can be served by an agency in the
community
Bias and Police Discretion
• Do police allow bias to affect arrest decisions with
juveniles?
• Racial Bias:
• Racial bias shown to be present in system, especially for
African American youth
• “Driving While Black”
• Gender Bias:
• Chivalry hypothesis suggests gender bias in favor of
young girls is present in the system
• Others believe that police are more likely to arrest female
offenders because their actions violate officers’
stereotypes of the female
TABLE 12.1 African American Representation
in Arrest Statistics
Bias and Police Discretion
• Do police allow bias to affect arrest decisions with
juveniles?
• Organizational Bias
• Departments that are highly bureaucratized and at the
same time unprofessional are most likely to be insulated
from the communities they serve
• Stereotypes of lower class neighborhoods often result in
biased police discretion and actions when crimes occur in
these areas
• Literature shows that police are more likely to “hassle” or arrest African American males in poor neighborhoods
Cops Kill Youth – Current Example
Police Work and Delinquency Prevention
Police engage in various forms of prevention:
Aggressive law enforcement
Saturation patrols, targeting gang members, arresting gang members
for any violations
Police in schools
School resource officers, GREAT, DARE, Community Outreach through
Police in Schools
Community policing
Several initiatives: encourage officers to get out of their cars and do foot
or bicycle patrols
Problem-oriented policing
Involves systematic analysis and response to problems underlying
criminal behavior; SARA
Police Activities League –
Current Example
Future of Juvenile Policing
• There are many associated with addressing juvenile
offenders:
• Witness intimidation
• Racial profiling
• Poor relations with communities
• Future strategies include:
• Use of “soft” technologies such as IT systems
• Using various forms of surveillance technology such as closed-
circuit television (CCTV)
• Community-based policing services, police in schools, problem-
oriented policing
Summary
Identify key historical events that shaped current juvenile policing
Understand key roles of police in responding to juvenile crime
Know the organization and management of police services for juveniles
Be aware of major court cases influencing police work with juveniles
Understand key legal aspects of police work
Describe police use of discretion with juveniles
Be familiar with major policing strategies to prevent delinquency