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