Juvenile Justice - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 38
About This Presentation
Title:

Juvenile Justice

Description:

Only a small number of gang related crimes are solved by arrest ... Many large departments have formed specialized 'gang Task Force' special units ... Gangs Cont. ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:1336
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 39
Provided by: kenj3
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Juvenile Justice


1
Juvenile Justice
  • Chapter 8
  • The Role of Law Enforcement

2
Students Objectives
  • What factors affect how police resolve juvenile
    justice problems
  • What is street justice?
  • Do police have discretionary powers when dealing
    with juveniles?
  • What action do police take when dealing with
    juveniles
  • Five objectives of juvenile law enforcement

3
Student Objectives Cont.
  • The fundamental nature of the juvenile justice
    system
  • What window of opportunity exists for juvenile
    who are in detention
  • The primary responsibility of officers working
    child abuse and child neglect cases
  • What the majority of police dispositions involve
  • What pre-delinquent indicator often goes
    unnoticed?

4
Obj Cont
  • The most visible indicators of a future victim or
    offender
  • How prevention methods have changed over the
    years and why
  • What the focus of the Top program is? Project
    Dare?
  • Will discuss the important professionals in a
    delinquency prevention program

5
Obj Cont
  • What greatly influences youth attitudes towards
    law and law enforcement
  • What paradigm shift affects how law enforcement
    deals with youths

6
Figure 8.2 Funnel Fallacy Process and Drop Out
Rates of the Juvenile Justice System
7
Introduction
  • The most important minority group in our society
    today is our young
  • The young represent all segments of our society
  • The future of our nation depends on the values
    they are forming and the fact they will be the
    future decision makers of our society

8
Intro Cont
  • Juvenile justice covers 3 basic areas
  • Youths who are victims of neglect and abuse
  • Youths who commit minor status offenses
  • Youth who commit serious crimes
  • Police must protect both victims and offenders
    and deal fairly with them
  • What is best for the youth must be balanced with
    what is best for society

9
Structure of the JJ System
  • The JJ system is distinct from the adult system
  • It has retained 3 basic components from the adult
    system
  • Police Courts Corrections
  • The intention is to let kids fall through the
    cracks and possibly get a 2nd chance
  • Funnel effects- At each point in the system
    fewer youths pass through
  • Police only arrest 100 out of every 1000 or 10
    of the youth they come into contact with

10
Structure of the JJ System Cont
  • System works well for most juveniles
  • Its weakness is handling the serious juvenile
    offender
  • Very few provisions

11
Government Agencies Involved Directly and
Indirectly with Juveniles
  • Office of Justice Programs- Co-ordinates
    activities of other offices
  • Bureau of Justice Statistics
  • National Institute of Justice
  • Bureau of Justice Assistance
  • Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
    Prevention
  • Office for Victims Assistance

12
Police Dispositions
  • Police juvenile dispositions are made with the
    childs health, safety, and welfare in mind
  • The deal with a wide range of youths who need
    protection from abuse and neglect to those who
    have committed status offenses to those who have
    committed serious violent crimes
  • Police have very limited alternatives and limited
    discretion with youths who have committed violent
    crimes

13
Police Dispositions Cont..
  • Factors to determine if police will arrest
  • Character
  • Age
  • Gender
  • Race
  • Prior Record
  • Family Situation
  • Attitude

14
How Police Dispose of Cases
15
Police Discretion
  • 80 to 90 of the youth commit offenses for which
    they could be arrested
  • Only 3 of them are caught and arrested
  • Police have a wide range of discretionary power
    when they do catch juveniles
  • Release to parents
  • Release to juvenile authorities
  • Counseling referrals
  • Prosecute within the JJ court system

16
Objectives in Handling Juveniles
  • Protect the juvenile
  • To Investigate
  • Determine the cause of victimization or
    delinquency
  • Efforts are made to prevent further delinquency
  • Proper disposition of the case

17
Taken Into Custody
  • Youths are taken into custody either from
    complaint or the officer observes questionable
    behavior
  • The custody is not considered an arrest but an
    attempt to discover the problem and rehabilitate
  • At no point may the rights of the juvenile be
    infringed upon
  • A crime must be proven beyond a reasonable
    doubt
  • Efforts should then be directed towards the cause
    rather than punishment

18
Detention
  • Detention is the period in which a youth is taken
    into custody by police and probation prior to a
    petition being filed
  • The law clearly states that juvenile status and
    non-offenders shall not be confined in any
    institution in which they have regular contact
    with adults
  • Criteria for detaining
  • For the juveniles protection
  • No parental care available
  • To guarantee a juveniles appearance in court
  • The seriousness of the offense and prior record

19
Release vs. Detention
  • Youths are taken into custody to be release to
    parents and guardians
  • Detainment follows if parents or guardian cannot
    be found
  • Some courts require mandatory referrals for all
    crimes of violence
  • All juveniles on parole or probation will be
    referred

20
  • An intake officer usually with juvenile justice
    decides if a case should move ahead for court
    processing
  • A petition (charge) is filed
  • Intake officer determines if youth will be
    detained until hearing
  • This decision is reviewed by a judge

21
Prosecution
  • The prosecutor receives the recommendation for a
    petition and can exercise 3 options
  • Dismiss the case
  • File the petition
  • Determine that the case is so serious that it
    should be tried in adult court
  • The prosecutor also looks at the age and
    experience of the officer making the disposition

22
Prosecution Cont..
  • Children that are involved in juvenile justice
    proceedings may be fingerprinted and photographed
    under specific conditions
  • Officers can take fingerprints and photos of
    juvenile 14 or older who are involved in the
    crime of murder, non-negligent manslaughter,
    forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault,
    burglary, housebreaking, purse snatching, auto
    theft
  • The files have to be kept separate from adult
    files
  • They cannot be sent to a central depository

23
Prosecution Cont
  • If latent prints are found at a crime scene and
    law enforcement have a suspect who is a juvenile,
    they can be fingerprinted regardless of age or
    offense
  • If the prints turn out to be negative during a
    comparison, the fingerprint card must be
    immediately destroyed

24
Overrepresentation Issues
  • There are major concerns with a disproportionate
    number of minority youths in the system.
  • In other words, minority youth do not commit more
    crimes than other youth, they merely get treated
    differently and more harshly at various points in
    the system
  • However it is witless to assume that millions of
    poor, jobless young people, who are not part of
    the work-world culture are going to stay off the
    streets and join knitting clubs

25
Neglected and Abused Children
  • The primary responsibility of officers assigned
    to a neglect or abuse case is the immediate
    protection of the child
  • Low enforcement must act frequently according to
    most department policies within 3 days
  • If an investigation finds the situation to be
    life-threatening the police may temporarily
    remove the child
  • Arrangements must them be made with the welfare
    department or the juvenile court

26
Neglect Abused Cont..
  • Police must balance the rights of the parents
    against those of the children
  • Certain service providers are required by law to
    report suspected abuse
  • Child care providers
  • Clergy
  • Educators
  • Hospital Administrators
  • Physicians
  • Social Service workers

27
Youths who are Sexually Abused
  • It is recommended that police departments have
    specialists in dealing with children who are
    sexually abused
  • Police academies nor law schools fail to teach
    the understanding and psychological needs of a
    child victim of incest or other sex crime
  • It is probable that a sexually abused child will
    become an abuser or engage in violent crimes
  • Failure to act on these cases will produce grim
    consequences

28
Missing Children
  • Most missing children run a high risk of getting
    involved with pedophiles
  • National Center for Missing and Exploited
    Children provides age progression programs

29
Status Offenders
  • The majority of case involve status offenses
  • Approximately 90 according to the UCC
  • Most status offenders are from middle
    socioeconomic families (runaways, incorrigibles
    and truants)
  • In most case the parents are found absorbed in
    their own lives and have little time for the
    children
  • These parents tend to pursue a policy of
    appeasement rather than maintaining family
    discipline

30
Status Offenses Cont..
  • Curfew violations and Loitering
  • Runaways
  • Truants
  • Underage Drinking
  • Serious or Habitual Offenders

31
Dealing with Gangs and Gang Members
  • Despite the dedication of thousands of police
    officers, the problem of gangs in the U.S. shows
    no signs of slowing down
  • Gang activity is a chief concern but gangs can
    congregate and recruit without breaking the law
  • Only a small number of gang related crimes are
    solved by arrest
  • The general public perceives that law enforcement
    are doing nothing about gangs

32
Gangs Cont
  • Many large departments have formed specialized
    gang Task Force special units
  • Five strategies OJJDP recommends
  • Suppression- prevention, arrest, and
    imprisonment, supervision and surveillance
  • Social Intervention- Includes Crises
    Intervention, treatment for youths and their
    families, outreach, and referral to social
    services

33
Gangs Cont..
  • Social Opportunities- Provide basic or remedial
    education, training, work incentives, and jobs
  • Community Mobilization- Improved communications
    and joint policy and program development
  • Organizational Development and Change-Includes
    special police units, prosecution, probation and
    case management

34
Prevention Strategies
  • It is better to prevent youths from becoming
    victims or victimizers in the first place
  • How do we attempt to do this
  • Educational Programs
  • Recreation programs
  • Crime prevention programs
  • Diversion Programs

35
Coordination Efforts and Community Policing
  • Traditionally law enforcement have been separate
    from the community and has only been reactive to
    crime by responding to incidents
  • The emphasis has now shifted to viewing the
    entire juvenile justice system including law
    enforcement as part of the community and a
    collective effort by everyone to deal with our
    nations youth
  • This paradign shift to community policing
    directly affects law enforcement as well as
    courts and corrections

36
Responding to a Changing Society
  • Policing today is at a critical point.
  • People of different races, cultures, and
    languages are coming into closer contact with
    each other
  • Enormous demands are being placed on
    understanding and tolerance
  • There are widening class divisions, more broken
    families, and homeless
  • There is a growing anger on part of the
    dis-advantaged and a rise in violence

37
Responding to a Changing Society
  • To identify the problems police must be able to
    associate with the youths of the community
  • Especially the ones who are always on the brink
    of crime

38
The End
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com