NCJ Number
162287
Date Published
1995
Length
28 pages
Annotation
Based on an analysis of youth violence and the responses to it in Bergen County, New Jersey, this final report of the Bergen County Task Force on Youth Violence presents recommendations for an overall plan for reducing youth violence in the county.
Abstract
The Task Force was divided into three committees. One committee addressed bias crimes; the second focused on juvenile sex offenders; and the third committee addressed youth gangs. The work of the Task Force was in two phases. In the first phase, each committee researched youth violence in Bergen County compared with the other counties in New Jersey and the nation. In the second phase, each committee developed specific recommendations for the Executive Committee of the Task Force to organize into an overall plan for reducing youth violence in the county. The plan for implementing the recommendations of the committees has two distinct efforts: improved information gathering and a county/municipal partnership. The Task Force recommends that all of the juvenile information collected by the Prosecutor's Office be maintained in a common, continuously updated computerized database that allows for the cross- tabulation of all characteristics of incidents, offenses, and juveniles. A second recommendation is that all juvenile officers routinely submit a questionnaire that addresses warning signs for all juveniles against whom they file complaints. Further, the Superior Court's Family Automated Case Tracking System must be improved to allow direct tracking and summary of all other information in the database by offense, disposition, and recidivism. The Task Force also recommends the expansion of the county juvenile justice planning function to include direct needs analysis and program development assistance to the municipal governments and professional advice on individual cases to municipal juvenile officers.