Police Role In Handling Juveniles

Running head: POLICE ROLE IN HANDLING JUVENILES

Police Role in Handling Juveniles

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POLICE ROLE IN HANDLING JUVENILES

Introduction

A young person gets introduced to the juvenile justice system when he interacts with a

police office after committing an offense. The law often protects boys and girls aged below

eighteen years and encourages them to get back to the community complicating the law

enforcement role of the police. The federal law provides that the police should not detain

juvenile offenders for more than six hours and they also have a role of keeping them safe while

in custody. However, juvenile arrest system differs across police departments and states. In most

cases the juveniles do not commit serious crimes but involve themselves in minor offenses such

as violating curfews, running away from home, and sometimes skipping school (Mays &

Winfree, 2012, p. 45).

The mistakes are treated collectively as status offenses. The police or law enforcers can

intervene in cases where the youth have become neglected, abused or reported missing. Issues

affecting the young people that need the intervention of the law enforcement agencies are

numerous giving these units quite a task to perform. The paper will, therefore, investigate the

role which the police play in the handling of juveniles by referring extensively to secondary

sources on the subject matter.

The American Juvenile Justice System

It is the primary channel through which youth who have gotten convicted of committing

offenses get handled. The system intervenes in several matters of delinquency through

involvement in correctional activities, the court and the police with the intention of

rehabilitation. The juvenile system can result in consequences that affect both the young

offenders and their parents including alternative schooling, incarceration, community service and

even probation. The system acts under one common believe that intervening in correcting

POLICE ROLE IN HANDLING JUVENILES

improper behavior in the young adults will reduce the rate at which these individuals will engage

in criminal activities when they become adults (Mays & Winfree, 2012, p. 29).

The history of juvenile justice system dates back into the 17th and 18th centuries when

the church played a central role in punishing and correcting improper behavior. In this era,

children were regarded as equals to the adults as they contributed to the generation of income for

the family. Under this period, they could receive equal treatment as the adult offenders including

the penalty of death. And this is the time when the debate arose as to form a different system for

charging the children or treating them in the same way as adults. The year 1825 marked the

beginning of a dedicated delinquency system for the juveniles with the first program taking place

in the New York House of Refuge. Later followed the houses of refuge that emphasized moral

rehabilitation, the child saving organizations which were identified as charitable institutions that

dedicatedly reformed delinquent and destitute children (Mays & Winfree, 2012, p. 29-32).

The persistent and continued engagement of the youth in wrongful and unlawful acts

necessitates the need for reforming the juvenile justice system. Additionally, according to

statistics, over seventy thousand children find themselves in detention across the US every day.

However, this is alarming because the law enforcement agencies are the first people that the

youth interact with before facing the justice system. The treatment and handling of the youth

offenders are attracting attention from politicians and the legislators pushing the demand up for

extra research into alternative policy (John & Catherine, 2014).

In 1993, various states adopted the “three strikes laws” altering the criminal offenses that

could land the children in detention, life sentencing and imprisonment for both adults and youth.

The following year, the Gun Free School Act was enacted to strengthen the tough on crime

policy that resulted in the highest number of minors getting detained and sentenced. The policy

POLICE ROLE IN HANDLING JUVENILES

was however intended to punish those children who involved themselves in gun crime. The law

was subject to various interpretations by different schools and states with some learning

institutions interpreting the regulation to include little offense such as disobedience to school

rules.

Minors in the Justice System

For a century and over, the federal and state administrations have always believed that

the administration of juvenile justice is the most appropriate tool for protecting the public by

offering a way that responds to the youth transitioning from childhood into adulthood. It is

evident that the children who commit offenses or crime are far much different from adult

wrongdoers. These class of criminals has a greater potential of changing if introduced to

corrective measures early. Moreover, they are less blameworthy because they might be indulging

in crime as a result of ignorance of the consequences (Wilbon & Siegel, 2011).

As a result, many states have come up with separate systems that will extend justice to

the youth, service delivery systems that are completely different from that of the adults. These

efforts are committed in the sense that the children are more likely to improve or change their

character. For instance, alternative schooling is more likely to transform educational

achievements of children that often get mistreated by their foster parents or guardians. In all

these activities, the police play a central role in referring the youth offenders to the appropriate

channels of justice. They are the first to interact with the children who have skipped school

consistently, ran from home, engaged in drug abuse activities as well as fighting in the street.

The police have the liberty to charge them, detain, or recommend them to probation institutions

(Nina, 2014).

POLICE ROLE IN HANDLING JUVENILES

Therefore, when we debate about the youth and the justice system, we cannot fail to

recognize the crucial role which the police perform in protecting the children from abusive adults

and parents. Since law enforcement agencies have a first-hand encounter with the young

offenders, they have to be actively involved in the formulation of policies that will correct and

improve the juvenile justice system. Moreover, the law enforcement agencies get tasked with a

bigger role in ensuring that the property and lives of people get protected from criminals. In

dispensing their mandate, they encounter the children in crime, and at that point, they have to

arrest and detain them. Therefore, incorporating their input in that process will ensure that

elaborative and efficient policies get initiated which will reduce the incidence of youth

involvement in criminal acts (Wilbon & Siegel, 2011).

Police officers also partner with education institutions to prevent the prevalence of crime

in crime-prone areas. The same manner in which adults need sensitization on security issues, so

are the youngsters. In that respect, the police and other law enforcement agencies on most

occasions have collaborated with schools and teachers to educate the children in schools the

importance of upholding upright character and reporting criminals. These officers are also

invited by schools into classrooms as official guests to discuss the effects of engaging in drug

abuse. They also warn the students on the negative consequences of following strangers who

may have bad intentions. Such activities ensure that the youth grow and become responsible

citizens who are law-abiding and constructive in contributing to the growth of the economy

(Nina, 2014).

Offering Arrest Alternatives

The society has an ill perception of police interaction with offending youngsters. Not all

cases result in arrest and detention, but sometimes, the law enforcers bring the suspects in for

POLICE ROLE IN HANDLING JUVENILES

questioning and warning. After the juveniles have become appropriately warned, they are placed

under the custody or watch of parents and guardians so that they can refrain from bad habits. The

officers under some circumstances may be forced to put the young offenders under their

supervision for a specified period or even refer them to the juvenile courts which reserve the

freedom to hand them over to probation officers (John & Catherine, 2014).

Cases of Abuse of Youths in the Hands of Police

Several incidences have filled the US media of boys being abused, molested and sexually

abused by officers assigned to them. Instead of the police giving the youngsters protection, they

take advantage of them and rape them severally with the detention administrations taking no

action against the perpetrators. In 2012, the Guardian reported the case of Kevin Young was

severally molested by one officer Neville Husband while in detention at Medomsley Detention

Center. Husband is said to have abused several others at the camp, and no legal action was taken

against him despite speculations and rumors spreading that he was involved in such inhuman

acts.

Just like Kevin Young, other youngsters find themselves in compromising situations after

being abused by the officers charged with the responsibility of protecting them. In most

occasions, the youths placed under detention have a weak or distorted background creating a

situation in which nobody will come forward to defend them. In fact, not many will believe their

allegations, and even the police officers threaten the victims. The victims get forced to remain

silent on the matter and suffer painful consequences (John & Catherine, 2014).

On several occasions that the police have received blame for profiling and arresting

young people by race, color, and ethnicity. Several studies have proved that African Americans

and Latino youngsters are more likely to be arrested than their white counterparts. So again the

POLICE ROLE IN HANDLING JUVENILES

issue of racism and discrimination arises when the police handle offenders. There have been

news reports everywhere in the recent times of extra-judicial execution of youthful offenders.

Police decision-making often gets blamed on racial bias and discretion. It is common to get up to

sixty-two percent of all apprehensions to constitute of juveniles of the Black Origin (Siegel,

2017, p. 506).

Racial discrimination and profiling extend into traffic whereby the phrase “Driving while

Black” has received more use by police on Black drivers. Repeated findings reveal that African-

American drivers get stopped on the highways more often than the European Americans, and the

law enforcement officers use their discretion to benefit the latter. In 2014, several cases of

shooting and killings of African-American juveniles rendered the airwaves. The most prominent

example that sparked heated protests in the American streets relates to the murder of Michael

Brown in Missouri Ferguson. After the death of Brown, in 2014, more than fourteen teenagers

were reported to have died in the hands of the law enforcers under different circumstances (Nina,

2014). The killings raise a moral question of how do the police kill those whom they are

supposed to protect from harm (Siegel, 2017, p. 510)?

The Leadership Role of Police

The police are not supposed in any way to treat a juvenile unfairly because of his color,

race of ethnical affiliation. Despite the few cases of raunchy officers defiling and abusing young

people, the police have played a meaningful role in designing and running programs that are

geared towards assisting students and school-going children to keep off crime. For instance,

aggressive law enforcement efforts have given rise to creative and innovative such as Gang

Resistance Education and Training abbreviated as G.R.E.A.T (Siegel & Welsh, 2017, p. 343).

POLICE ROLE IN HANDLING JUVENILES

The police department through partnerships with schools have to some extent managed to

eliminate delinquency, and therefore, the development of GREAT is one of the efforts the police

departments in Arizona has put in place to help reduce the level of involvement in crime among

the adolescents. The program is available in all the fifty states and Columbia whereby the

children who have passed through the system for eight weeks showed signs of shunning away

from gang activities (Siegel & Welsh, 2017, p. 344).

Another more prominent example of the police involvement in ensuring that the

adolescents keep of criminal activities is through Community Outreach program. The program

gathers together New Haven Police Department and the Yale University’s Child Study Center so

as to deliberate on emotional and mental challenges that middle schools children face after being

subjected to violence in the community. In short, the plan is aimed at helping the students

understand how their feelings could affect how they behave and develop effective ways of

responding to and handling trauma and violence. Additionally, through the intervention of the

plan, the students can understand the role of the police as well as change their attitude toward

them. They are also educated on how to seek assistance from the community (Kratcoski, 2012, p.

59).

It has been found that the police could work better if they gained the trust and confidence

of members of the community who are so much concerned about the behavior of their children.

Therefore, the police come in through encouraging these citizens to be corporate with local law

enforcement agencies. The society should feel safer and secure if the police can act or respond so

quickly to cases of emergency to protect the lives and property of the community members.

Community policing has also evolved to become the most useful tool that the policing

POLICE ROLE IN HANDLING JUVENILES

departments use to ensure the citizens participate actively in securing their environs (Siegel &

Welsh, 2017, p. 344).

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services is a branch of law enforcement

which involves itself with initiating strategies that are intended at reducing gun crime. Under the

leadership of this office, initiatives such as the "Project Safe Neighborhoods," gun crimes get

punished appropriately. The plan collects all the prosecutors, law enforcement agencies, federal

and state leaders to chat the way forward in handling gun-associated crimes. In a bid to

eliminate adult and child involvement in criminal activities, the police department utilizes

community policing to spearhead partnerships between the society and the government to

educate members of the public on how to become productive and avoid crime (Siegel & Welsh,

2017, p. 345).

Crime prevention measures are so effective than apprehension in reducing juvenile

delinquency and as such the quality of community life is so much improved. Moreover,

increased efforts that are geared towards reintegrating the youths into the society after they have

been discharged from various institutions enhances how they view the police. However,

improving the level of communication can be pivotal in ensuring the effectiveness of policing in

handling juveniles (Kratcoski, 2012, p. 157 & 473).

Future of the Juvenile Policing

Though several challenges threaten the kind of interaction between the police and

juveniles, the future of reducing delinquency among the youths lies in the manner in which

police departments handle the offenders. Some of these problems include profiling of the minors

on race, gender, and intimidation of witnesses. Another area that needs serious intervention is

cold relations that exist between members of the public and the law enforcement agencies.

POLICE ROLE IN HANDLING JUVENILES

However, there is remarkable progress the officers have made in addressing most of these

problems and in the future, the police are investing in transparency and integrity to enhance the

delivery of services (Siegel, 2017, p. 522).

To better serve the interests of the juveniles, the policing department needs to become

more accountable in their dealings especially arrests. Accountability will restore trust in the

hearts of the public and as such the people will consequently corporate with the law enforcement

units. The aspect of fairness in the process of delivering justice before the arrest and after of the

offenders ensures that the relationship between the youths and police improves. It is more likely

that the future of preventing juvenile delinquency will depend on the above factors (Siegel, 2017,

p. 519).

Introducing information technology systems into the law enforcement units will increase

their effectiveness in administration and decision-making. How is this going to happen?

Decision-making is improved through enhancing the ability of police to analyze crime patterns in

various cities as well as allocating resources to places more prone to crime. Use of IT is hence

referred to as “soft” technology. On the other hand, the law enforcement units can introduce hard

technologies which involve the use of nonlethal weapons like the stun guns as well as other tools

employed by the police (Siegel, 2017, p. 518-19).

Moreover, the community-policing programs prove to be a major way to help the youth

gain life skills and hence absolve delinquency rates among the juveniles. If the police continue to

play their leadership role in developing better relationships with the youthful population, they

will somehow manage to reach many of them and get them to realize that the law enforcers are

not enemies. Programs such as GREAT will also equip the juveniles with better skills that will

POLICE ROLE IN HANDLING JUVENILES

eventually assist them in solving conflicts without necessarily resorting to violence (Cole, Smith,

& DeJong, 2017, p. 720).

The police also should realize how their decisions could have a great impact on the lives

of the juveniles and as such when they handle the youth, and it is important to not only consider

the weight of the offense. Sometimes the young offenders commit mistakes out of a troubled life

that needs counseling rather than arrest and conviction. Instead of recommending the juveniles to

detention centers, the law enforcers should think of offering counseling services to the disturbed

children. Additionally, the policing units could release the arrested with a warning or even

recommending alternative punishment as this could improve the relationships between the

youths and the police (Cole, Smith, & DeJong, 2017, p. 712).

POLICE ROLE IN HANDLING JUVENILES

References

Cole, G. F., Smith, C. E., & DeJong, C. (2017). The American system of criminal justice.

Dowd, N. E., & Ogletree, C. J. (2016). A new juvenile justice system: Total reform for a broken

system. New York: New York University Press.

John, D., & Catherine, T. (2014, July). Law Enforcement’s Leadership Role in Juvenile Justice

Reform. Retrieved May 20, 2017, from

http://www.theiacp.org/portals/0/documents/pdfs/juvenilejusticesummitreport.pdf

Kratcoski, P. C. (2012). Juvenile justice administration. Boca Raton: Taylor & Francis.

Mays, G. L., & Winfree, L. T. (2012). Juvenile justice. New York: Wolters Kluwer Law &

Business.

Nina, S. (2014, November 25). The 14 Teens Killed by Cops Since Michael Brown.

Retrieved May 20, 2017, from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/11/25/the-14-

teens-killed-by-cops-since-michael-brown?via=googleplus

Siegel, L. A. (2017). Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, practice, and law. Belmont, CA:

Wadsworth.

Siegel, L. J., & Welsh, B. (2017). Juvenile delinquency: The core.

Wilbon, D. M., & Siegel, L. J. (2011). Study guide [for] Juvenile delinquency: The core, 4th ed.

Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

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