Police Handling of Juveniles

• NCJ Number: 87567
• Author(s): J R Sutton; T L Rooney; P E Pittman
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 105 pages
• Grant Number(s): 79-JN-AX-0013 (S-1); 79-JN-AX-0013 (S-2); 77-NI-99-0009; 77-JN-99-0008; 77-JN-99-0008 (S-1); 79-JN-99
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Corporate Author: American Justice Institute
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report examines the relationship of the police to the juvenile justice system under studying the history of the modern urban police, policy recommendations on policing styles, the social organization of police work with juveniles, police decisionmaking, and police diversion.

Abstract

The police crime prevention role has historically focused on juveniles, and this has created role conflicts for police which have led to police discretion so broad as to be subject to abuse. In practice, the police may emphasize the 'legalistic' aspect of their role by focusing on the apprehension of offenders to the neglect of crime prevention. Police emphasis on a 'rehabilitative' role on the other hand may precipitate neglect of due process in attempts to coerce juveniles into proper behavior. Police organizations that try to combine the two roles are likely to use informal, 'rehabilitative' means of social control. While there is some evidence that organizational context affects the style of police work, any effect is obscured by police decisions being hidden from public view. Empirical research yields no comprehensive, generalizable model of the determinants of police behavior in encounters with juveniles. The clearest effects can be observed through subjectively assessed aspects of a specific encounter, i.e., victim or complainant's preference, demeanor of the juvenile, and the juvenile's history of contacts with the criminal justice system. Police diversion programs allow for the expansion of police discretion and sanctioning power with no corresponding mechanism of control of accountability. The diversion programs reviewed in this report have unclear goals, are poorly evaluated, and show uneven results. Conclusions suggest that the discretion and arbitrariness inherent in police-juvenile encounters can only be limited effectively if the purview of the juvenile justice system as a whole is reduced. About 72 references are provided. (Author summary modified)