policing juveniles

Question 1

history of policing

Answer 1

• formal police departments are a relatively new thing
• as England began to grow, the king began appointing individuals (called Reeves) to oversee doings in shires (shire reeves- sheriffs)
  in the 1600s as London became more and more industrialized groups of men would organize to deter crime- watchman
• by the mid-1800s England developed its first professional police department- metropolitan police service

Question 2

history of policing in the us

Answer 2

same pattern arose In the us
- initially small rural towns were policed; informally
as towns/cities grew, informal policing no longer were adequate
- recall, with industrial revolution came concerns of poor gangs destroying society
-Boston, Ny, and Philly all developed their own professional police departments

Question 3

crime fighter responsibility v social service

Answer 3

crime fighter- duties to prevent crime, investigate crime, and arrest criminals
social service responsibilities
- acting as first responder, checking in on elderly, acting as counselors in disputes, dealing with neglected children, keeping youth off streets, and serving all people (even criminals)

Question 4

police and juveniles

Answer 4

• most police think of themselves as crime fighters
• forced to spend time dealing with neglected children and status offenders rather than fighting “real” crime
  -police often express frustration with the leniency of the JJ system- even juveniles who commits serious offenses can be released after a relatively short stint

Question 5

police discretion

Answer 5

police have an incredible amount of discretion
- often see juvenile crime and delinquent acts as minor and do not take formal action- only around 10% of police interactions with juvenile delinquency/criminals result in arrest

Question 6

factors associated with arrest

Answer 6

• offense seriousness (most felonies lead to arrest, while very few minor delinquency or status offenses result in arrest)
• wishes of the complainant
• department size/policies (large, urban departments often have more serious things to deal with, some departments require arrests for minor offenses)
  -gender (legally laws should apply equally for males and females) boys more likely to be arrested for misdemeanors, girls more likely to be arrested for status offenses
  -race and social class- some communities have historically strained relationships w police, demeanor matters more than race or class but they are all intertwined

Question 7

juvenile divisions in police departments and their responsibilities

Answer 7

many larger departments have divisions dedicated exclusively to handling juveniles
- these officers are trained specially to deal with underage offenders, trained more to embrace the “social worker” element of policing
- often have the explicit mission of diverting at risk youth from the juvenile justice system
- also will investigate issues of child abuse and neglect

Question 8

interrogating juveniles

Answer 8

• juveniles now are afforded many of the same rights as adults 5th amendment rights, Miranda rights)
• Supreme Court took it further for juveniles- juveniles might not understand what it means to waive Miranda rights, parents can refuse to allow their children to answer questions, police not required to notify or obtain permission from parents before questioning, however, if juvenile asks for parents police must stop interrogation

Question 9

policing in schools

Answer 9

• Police in schools- school resource officers
• usually employed by local law enforcement agency (PO first and not a school admin)
• have all responsibilities of regular officers, but also expected to take on a social work/mentoring role
• role of SROs has shifted considerably towards law enforcement and crime prevention since 1990s
• 1/3 of schools that have an SRO are 80% black/african American
• less than half of schools with SROs are majority white

Question 10

are sros effective at reducing crime?

Answer 10

• research is very mixed
• some find evidence of slight reductions
• others find no effect at all
• can be difficult to study though

Question 11

controversies surrounding SROs

Answer 11

1) large increases in arrests of juveniles in school
2) high profile incidents of police brutality in schools
3) prisonization of schools