CHAPTER OUTLINE
Rico’s story
1. One of twelve children in Harlem.
2. Mother struggled daily to provide for family, however, father heavily involved
in criminal activity and drifts in and out of the picture
3. Rico attended large public school where violence, sexual assaults, and drugs
were common
4. Rico was a brilliant student who aspired to go to college
5. Rico is involved in fight in school, but policemen assigned to the school use
discretion and issue warning only
6. Rico graduates high school and then attends the University of Cincinnati and
becomes a member of the US Boxing team.
7. Rico graduates with a BA and attends medical school.
8. Today Rico, or Dr. Richard Larkin, is an assistant professor.
I. History of Juvenile Policing
A. Origin of police agencies
1. specialized police services for juveniles is a recent phenomenon
2. individuals were entrusted with policing themselves with pledge
system
3. watch system was created to police larger communities
B. Industrial revolution
1.first organized police force was established in London in 1829
2. in the America, sheriff became the most important police official
3. reform efforts
a. Wickersham Commission of 1931
b. International Association of Chiefs of Police
c. August Vollmer, police chief in Berkeley, California
4. outside influences
a. U.S. Supreme Court handed down decisions
b. LEAA funded justice-related programs
C. Role of the juvenile police officer
1. specialized juvenile police programs are more the norm
2. many police programs involve prevention components
3. programs address child abuse, domestic violence, and missing
children
II. Police and Juvenile Offenders
A. Primary responsibility
1.police primary responsibility is to protect the public
2. police work is substantially different from its fictional glorification
B. Redefined mission
1. police role should be to maintain order
2. be a visible and accessible component of the community
3. aggressive action by police can help reduce the incidence of repeat
offending
4. little evidence for adding police or skills to reduce crime
5. improving police and community relationships is critical
6. percentage of youth who believe police are honest varies by race:
57 percent of European Americans, 51 percent of Asian Americans,
31 percent of Hispanic Americans, 30 percent of Native Americans, and
15 percent of African Americans.
C. Police roles
1. juvenile officers operate as specialists as part of the juvenile unit
2. most officers regard the violations of juveniles as non-serious
3. serious juvenile offenders are small minority of the offender
population
4. juvenile offenders can produce major role conflicts for police
a. 73% of all juvenile arrests are referred to juvenile court
b. 20% of all juvenile arrests are handled informally
5. police may adopt law enforcer or delinquency prevention worker
role
D. Police and violent juvenile crime
1.crimes of homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, and
kidnapping
2.justice agencies experiment with different methods of controlling
violent youth
a. increased directed patrols in street-corner hot spots of crime
b. proactive arrests of serious repeat offenders
c. problem-oriented policing
3. improving communications between the police and the community
4. policing programs that work
a. increased directed patrols in street-corner hot spots of crime
b. proactive arrests of serious repeat offenders
c. proactive arrests of drunk drivers
d. arrests of employed suspects for domestic assault
e. problem-oriented policing
5. what does not work
a. neighborhood block watch
b. arrests of juveniles for minor offenses
c. arrests of unemployed suspects for domestic assault
d. drug market arrests
e. community policing that is not targeted at risk factors
f. adding extra police in cities with no regard to assignment
III. Police and the Rule of Law
A. Arrest procedure
1. police decide whether to release him or make a referral to juvenile
court
2. cases involving serious crimes are often referred to court
3. less serious cases are often diverted from court action
4. most states require the law of arrest be the same for both adults and
juveniles
5. to make a legal arrest:
a. officer must have probable cause to believe that an offense
took place
b. the suspect is the guilty party
c. probable cause is between a mere suspicion and absolute
certainty
6. misdemeanor cases
a. the police officer must personally observe the crime
7. felony cases
a. can be made based on probable cause
8. statutes are designed to give the police the authority to act in loco
parentis
9. juvenile is not arrested but rather taken into custody
B. Search and seizure
1. fourth amendment protections
a. protected against unreasonable searches and seizures
b. warrants issued based on probable cause
c. particularity requirement of searches and seizures
2. pretrial motion to suppress the evidence illegally obtained evidence
a. person may be searched after a legal arrest
b. automobile search based on probable cause
c. suspect’s outer garments may be frisked if police are
suspicious
3. warrantless searches
a. stop-and-frisk-pat down of a suspect’s outer garments
b. search incident to arrest- body search after a legal arrest
c. vehicle search based on probable cause
d. consent search based on knowingly and voluntarily consent
e. plain view- seize suspicious objects seen in plain view
f. electronic surveillance based on expectation of privacy
C. Custodial interrogation
1. Supreme Court placed constitutional limitations on police
interrogation
a. 1966 Miranda v. Arizona
2. specific rights
a. they have the right to remain silent
b. any statements they make can be used against them
c. they have the right to counsel
d. if they cannot afford counsel, it will be furnished at public
expense
3. Miranda warning has been made applicable to children taken into
custody
4. parents or attorneys need not be present for children for rights waiver
5. California case: People v. Lara
a. waiver determined by the totality of the circumstances
doctrine
6. most controversial legal issues addressed in the state courts
a. Fare v. Michael C.
b. California v. Prysock
IV. Discretionary Justice
A. Discretion
1. police rely on their discretion to choose an appropriate course of
action
2. low-visibility decision making
3. informality that has been built into the system
4. discretion may permit the law to discriminate against particular
groups
5. procedures of juvenile personnel are rarely subject to judicial
review
6. problem of discretion is one of extremes
7. Project on Policing Neighborhoods
a. police still use discretion
b. 13% of police encounters with juveniles resulted in arrest
c. search or interrogation of suspects in 24% of the encounters
8. three-quarters of all juvenile arrests are referred to juvenile court
9. police are much more likely to take formal action when:
a. the crime is serious
b. reported by a victim who is a respected member of the
community
c. offender is well known to them
B. Environmental factors
1. norms of the community affect the decision
2. perception of community alternatives to police intervention
C. Police policy
1. policies and customs of the local police department
2. galvanize the local media to demand police action
pressure from supervisors
D. Situational factors
1. specific traits of offenders
2. dress, attitude, speech, and level of hostility toward the police
3. recent research challenges the influence of demeanor on decision
making
4. important variables in the police discretionary process
a. attitude of the complainant
b. type and seriousness of the offense
c. race, sex, and age of the offender
d. attitude of the offender
e. offender’s prior contacts with the police
f. perceived willingness of the parents to assist
g. setting or location in which the incident occurs
h. if the offender denies the actions or insists on a court
hearing
i. likelihood that a child can be served by a community
agency
E. Bias and police discretion
1. phrase "Driving While Black” has been coined
2. law enforcement policy that disproportionately affects AfricanAmericans
a. law-abiding African Americans are more often victims of
crimes, therefore over policing may be necessary
3. Bishop and Frazier found that race can have a direct effect on
decisions
a. African Americans more likely recommended for formal
processing,
b. referred to court,
c. adjudicated delinquent, and
d. given harsher dispositions for comparable offenses
F. Gender bias
1. some research support for various forms of gender bias
2. police are less likely to process females for delinquent acts
3. discriminate against females by arresting them for status offenses
4. female status offenders are arrested for less serious offenses than
boys
5. double standard in court for males and females
G. Organizational bias
1. policies may result in biased practices
2. bureaucratized and unprofessional departments
a. likely to be insulated from the communities they serve
3. administrators may have stereotyped view of the urban poor
a. troublemakers and needing control
4. lower-class neighborhoods experience much greater police scrutiny
5. Sampson’s research indicates police officers
a. may not discriminate on an individual level
b. class and racial bias in the police processing of delinquent youth
V. Police Work and Delinquency Prevention
A. Aggressive law enforcement
1. aggressive patrolling targeted at specific patterns of delinquency
2. tactics which have not proven to be effective against gangs
a. saturation patrol
b. targeting gang areas
c. arresting members for any law violations
3. making aggressive enforcement of curfew and truancy laws
B. Police in schools
1. more than 14,000 full-time police working as school resource
officers
a. develop recreational programs for juveniles
b. develop delinquency prevention programs
2. Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.) program
a. to reduce gang activity
b. teach students the negative consequences of gang
membership
c. evaluations of G.R.E.A.T. show mixed results
3. Community Outreach Through Police in Schools Program
a. better understand the way their feelings affect their
behavior
b. develop constructive means of responding to violence and
trauma
c. change their attitudes toward police
C. Community policing
1. emergence of the community policing model is important change
a. gain the trust and assistance of concerned citizens
b. to increase feelings of community safety
2. Youth Firearms Violence Initiative (YFVI)
a. education and intervention programs related to handgun
safety
b. community-based programs on youth handgun violence
c. assist families in addressing youth handgun problems
D. Problem-oriented policing
1. involves a systematic analysis of problems
2. response to the problems or conditions underlying criminal
incidents
3. more proactive than incident-driving policing
4. four-step model, often referred to as S.A.R.A
a. scanning involves identifying a specific crime problem
through data
b. analysis involves in-depth analysis of the crime problem
c. response- partners respond to problem based on analysis
d. assessment- response to the problem as evaluated
E. Boston’s Operation Ceasefire
1. intervention strategies are also important
a. specific delinquency prevention strategies
b. juvenile justice sanctions
c. public information campaign on consequences of gun
violence
2. aims to reduce youth homicide victimization and youth gun
violence
a. implemented in Boston
b. police program with juvenile and criminal justice and social
agencies
3. program has two main elements
a. focus on illicit gun traffickers who supply youth with guns
b. attempt to generate a strong deterrent to gang violence
c. track and seize illegal guns and targeting traffickers
d. pull every deterrence lever available
e. 63% reduction in mean monthly number of youth homicide
victims
f. significant decreases in gun assaults and gang violence
CHAPTER SUMMARY
Modern policing developed in England at the beginning of the nineteenth century.
The Industrial Revolution, recognition of the need to treat children as a distinguishable
group, and growing numbers of unemployed and homeless youths were among some of
the key events that helped shape juvenile policing in America. The contemporary role of
juvenile officers is similar to that of officers working with adult offenders: to intervene if
the actions of a citizen produce public danger or disorder. Juvenile officers must also
have a thorough knowledge of the law, especially the constitutional protections available
to juveniles. Juvenile officers operate either as specialists in a police department or as
part of the juvenile unit of a police department.
Through the Miranda v. Arizona decision, the U.S. Supreme Court established a
clearly defined procedure for custodial interrogation. Most courts have held that the
Fourth Amendment ban against unreasonable search and seizure applies to juveniles and
that illegally seized evidence is inadmissible in a juvenile trial. Most courts have
concluded that parents or attorneys need not be present for children effectively to waive
their right to remain silent. Discretion is a low-visibility decision made in the
administration of adult and juvenile justice. Discretionary decisions are made without
guidelines from the police administrator. Numerous factors influence the decisions
police make about juvenile offenders, including the seriousness of the offense, the harm
inflicted on the victim, and the likelihood that the juvenile will break the law again.
Discretion is essential in providing individualized justice but problems such as
discrimination, unfairness, and bias toward particular groups of juveniles must be
controlled.
Police have taken the lead in delinquency prevention. Major policing strategies to
prevent delinquency include aggressive law enforcement, police in schools, community
policing, and problem-oriented policing. The ever-changing nature of juvenile
delinquency calls for further experimentation and innovation in policing strategies to
prevent delinquency. Tailoring policing activities to local conditions and engaging the
community and other stakeholders are important first steps.