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 ...

1. JUVENILE DELINQUENCY
THE CORE 5E
Chapter 12:
Police Work with Juveniles
History of Juvenile Policing
phenomenon

2. ncy control squads
Police and Juvenile Offenders
community
to address crime problems
a special unit
or disorder
work with juveniles

3. Police and Juvenile Offenders
with juveniles
e
youth
than all
other racial groups
favorable
attitudes toward police
adult victims to
contact the police

4. enforcer
and delinquency prevention worker
Police and Violent Juvenile Crime
aggravated assault, and kidnapping
crime control:
underlying
incidents of juvenile delinquency rather than the incidents alone
essential to
combating violent juvenile crime
Figure 12.1 Police Response to Juvenile Crime

5. 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

6. sel, it will be furnished at the
public expense
-incrimination
are
applicable in juvenile cases too
parents or attorneys need not be present
for
children to effectively waive their rights
protection from
self-incrimination, but the validity of this waiver is determined
case by
case
e v. Michael C. and California v. Prysock
Lawsuit Filed for Illegal Search –
Current Example

7. Discretionary Justice
adults
Factors affecting police discretion with juveniles:
rious 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

8. • 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

9. • 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

10. 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

11. • 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
members
for any violations
hool resource officers, GREAT, DARE, Community
Outreach through
Police in Schools
and do foot
or bicycle patrols
-oriented policing

12. tic 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,

13. problem-
oriented policing
Summary
policing
crime
services for juveniles
with juveniles
delinquency