Officer Working With Juvenile Case Study
Officers Working With Juveniles
Susan M. Malbrough
South University
Officers Working With Juveniles
In the case of John, whose seventeen years old, robbed a liquor store; and the store 's owner was shot and died during the robbery, I would file a formal petition. The reason I would file a petition for the robbery case is because it would need judiciary review immediately because of the seriousness of the crime and the age of the juvenile. The judge would determine whether to try it in juvenile court or send it to adult court.
In the case of Heather, who 's sixteen years old, spray painting gang related stuff on an under pass, I would handle it informally. I would handle it this way due to the severity of the crime, age, appropriate …show more content…
punishment, and evidence involved. I believe the best solution would be if I referred Heather to a community organization for children involved with gangs that has experience and amazing outcomes when it comes to totally rehabilitating children. That way Heather will have a chance at a clean record and bright future with plenty of hope and resources. I would say disobeying curfew would be the most common offense out of the three I 've discussed. The proper term is "status offense" which is when an offense wouldn 't be considered a crime if an adult did it. There are very different outlooks when it comes to curfews. Most cities enforce curfews to prevent criminal activity by children under eighteen. Some who don 't agree with curfews say it violates children’s First Amendment. This has caused violations to be given to parents who let their children break curfew. Most of the time officers take children home or to a facility to wait on their parents to come get the child and they get a warning. Sometimes the curfew violator faces fines, mandatory community service, enrollment in after-school programs, or the loss of driver 's license privileges (Michon, 2014). In extreme cases, a curfew violator might end up in juvenile hall. In some jurisdictions, parents who knowingly allow curfew violations could also be subject to fines.
I am a complete believer in officers having discretionary authority over children. The main reason is because I do not believe every child who is caught committing a crime should end up with a criminal record. The police role with juvenile offenders is especially important because young persons ' views and attitudes toward law enforcement are shaped by their first encounter with a police officer (Lawrence, Sec. II, pg.127, 2008). Depending on the severity, past history, intensions, abuse situation, parental control, age, evidence, and appropriate punishment involved is what I would base my decisions on what course of action to take. This decision making process involves value judgments, situational factors, personality characteristics (both officer and offenders), available resources, political climate, geography, and departmental policy (Flynn &. McDonough, 2004).
When an officer uses bad discretion it causes negative and sometimes illegal results, such as not having due process or equal justice under law, no thoughts about police communities, and causing a hazardous work environment for officers. Referring children to programs that help the underlying cause such as behavior problems, gang involvement, or abuse is a much better outcome for everybody because it keeps it out of the juvenile justice process. Officers having close relationships in the town, at schools, churches, and mentors alleviates problems between kids and police and creates opportunity for officers to be able to use good discretion.
It 's hard for police officers to leave their emotions and feelings aside when dealing with juvenile crime especially if they have children of their own. Officer’s discretion disadvantage would be the possibility of abuse of power, and decisions being made on extralegal basis instead of the crime. Extralegal factors such as sex, race, socioeconomic status, and individual character is- tics of the offender have been shown to make a difference in police officers’ decisions of whether or not to take official actions (Lawrence, Sec. II, pg. 123, 2008). Many times gender is considered and most times boys are more likely to be punished worse. Another disadvantage is toward poor or lower class children because some officers think their parents are less capable of correcting them due to lack of resources for supervision and other proper alternatives.
The advantages would be that all juveniles who commit an offense have to end up with a criminal history.
A child who is respectful and shows remorse is more likely to be lectured or a minor punishment instead of having to go to court. Another factor is usually a child’s criminal and social history. There are many other effective strategies that officers can use such as asking questions and giving a warning which could be used in cases of a possibility of a minor offense. The next strategy is station adjustment which is when officers take children to the jail and document possible offenses and give a formal warning. Then you have diversion center referring which is when an officers takes the child to a service agency for juveniles or mental health to get help from counselors and social workers. Officers can give a citation and refer to juvenile court, a probation officer makes a court date and lets the parents know, intake officer decides to file a formal delinquency petition or not, and sometimes the prosecutor decides. Another option is placing the child in a detention facility or home and again a court dates set and decision is made about the petition but this is the last resort. It usually only happens when there 's abuse involved or violence. Using alternatives is not only beneficial to the child, it helps the entire county especially the justice system. It gives a better chance at rehabilitation, change, positive outcomes, and less crowding and unnecessary court …show more content…
process. Police discretion is a normal and necessary part of the law enforcement decision- making process that sometimes appears to be influenced by extralegal factors and that results in disproportionate processing of racial and ethnic minorities (Lawrence, 2, pg.127, 2008). Research about this matter does not support that, in fact it shows that there are just more minorities who commit crimes that end up in court.
The reason programs with trained staff is the best choice to work with juvenile’s is the complexity of what’s behind the crime that’s causing the pain that makes children act out in which the staff has studied, researched, and been trained to deal with.
Some of the reasons are not having a loving structures home, gaining property or necessities, protection, divorce, not having a father or mother, needing support, attention seeking, and/or being neglected and abused. These are all very good reasons to keep letting officers have discretionary powers! When the community works together as a whole an awesomely well rounded child will be the
outcome!
References
Lawrence, (Feb 16, 2008). POLICE AND JUVENILE Sage Publications Retrieved from www.sagepub.com/upm-data/19435_Section_II.pdf
Michon, K., (2014). Juvenile Law: Status Offenses, Nolo Law for All Retrieved from http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/juvenile-law-status-offenses-32227.html
W. J. Flynn, B. McDonough (2004). Police Work With Juveniles: Discretion, Model Programs, and School Police Resource Officers Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=206605
Susan M. Malbrough
South University
Officers Working With Juveniles
In the case of John, whose seventeen years old, robbed a liquor store; and the store 's owner was shot and died during the robbery, I would file a formal petition. The reason I would file a petition for the robbery case is because it would need judiciary review immediately because of the seriousness of the crime and the age of the juvenile. The judge would determine whether to try it in juvenile court or send it to adult court.
In the case of Heather, who 's sixteen years old, spray painting gang related stuff on an under pass, I would handle it informally. I would handle it this way due to the severity of the crime, age, appropriate …show more content…
punishment, and evidence involved. I believe the best solution would be if I referred Heather to a community organization for children involved with gangs that has experience and amazing outcomes when it comes to totally rehabilitating children. That way Heather will have a chance at a clean record and bright future with plenty of hope and resources. I would say disobeying curfew would be the most common offense out of the three I 've discussed. The proper term is "status offense" which is when an offense wouldn 't be considered a crime if an adult did it. There are very different outlooks when it comes to curfews. Most cities enforce curfews to prevent criminal activity by children under eighteen. Some who don 't agree with curfews say it violates children’s First Amendment. This has caused violations to be given to parents who let their children break curfew. Most of the time officers take children home or to a facility to wait on their parents to come get the child and they get a warning. Sometimes the curfew violator faces fines, mandatory community service, enrollment in after-school programs, or the loss of driver 's license privileges (Michon, 2014). In extreme cases, a curfew violator might end up in juvenile hall. In some jurisdictions, parents who knowingly allow curfew violations could also be subject to fines.
I am a complete believer in officers having discretionary authority over children. The main reason is because I do not believe every child who is caught committing a crime should end up with a criminal record. The police role with juvenile offenders is especially important because young persons ' views and attitudes toward law enforcement are shaped by their first encounter with a police officer (Lawrence, Sec. II, pg.127, 2008). Depending on the severity, past history, intensions, abuse situation, parental control, age, evidence, and appropriate punishment involved is what I would base my decisions on what course of action to take. This decision making process involves value judgments, situational factors, personality characteristics (both officer and offenders), available resources, political climate, geography, and departmental policy (Flynn &. McDonough, 2004).
When an officer uses bad discretion it causes negative and sometimes illegal results, such as not having due process or equal justice under law, no thoughts about police communities, and causing a hazardous work environment for officers. Referring children to programs that help the underlying cause such as behavior problems, gang involvement, or abuse is a much better outcome for everybody because it keeps it out of the juvenile justice process. Officers having close relationships in the town, at schools, churches, and mentors alleviates problems between kids and police and creates opportunity for officers to be able to use good discretion.
It 's hard for police officers to leave their emotions and feelings aside when dealing with juvenile crime especially if they have children of their own. Officer’s discretion disadvantage would be the possibility of abuse of power, and decisions being made on extralegal basis instead of the crime. Extralegal factors such as sex, race, socioeconomic status, and individual character is- tics of the offender have been shown to make a difference in police officers’ decisions of whether or not to take official actions (Lawrence, Sec. II, pg. 123, 2008). Many times gender is considered and most times boys are more likely to be punished worse. Another disadvantage is toward poor or lower class children because some officers think their parents are less capable of correcting them due to lack of resources for supervision and other proper alternatives.
The advantages would be that all juveniles who commit an offense have to end up with a criminal history.
A child who is respectful and shows remorse is more likely to be lectured or a minor punishment instead of having to go to court. Another factor is usually a child’s criminal and social history. There are many other effective strategies that officers can use such as asking questions and giving a warning which could be used in cases of a possibility of a minor offense. The next strategy is station adjustment which is when officers take children to the jail and document possible offenses and give a formal warning. Then you have diversion center referring which is when an officers takes the child to a service agency for juveniles or mental health to get help from counselors and social workers. Officers can give a citation and refer to juvenile court, a probation officer makes a court date and lets the parents know, intake officer decides to file a formal delinquency petition or not, and sometimes the prosecutor decides. Another option is placing the child in a detention facility or home and again a court dates set and decision is made about the petition but this is the last resort. It usually only happens when there 's abuse involved or violence. Using alternatives is not only beneficial to the child, it helps the entire county especially the justice system. It gives a better chance at rehabilitation, change, positive outcomes, and less crowding and unnecessary court …show more content…
process. Police discretion is a normal and necessary part of the law enforcement decision- making process that sometimes appears to be influenced by extralegal factors and that results in disproportionate processing of racial and ethnic minorities (Lawrence, 2, pg.127, 2008). Research about this matter does not support that, in fact it shows that there are just more minorities who commit crimes that end up in court.
The reason programs with trained staff is the best choice to work with juvenile’s is the complexity of what’s behind the crime that’s causing the pain that makes children act out in which the staff has studied, researched, and been trained to deal with.
Some of the reasons are not having a loving structures home, gaining property or necessities, protection, divorce, not having a father or mother, needing support, attention seeking, and/or being neglected and abused. These are all very good reasons to keep letting officers have discretionary powers! When the community works together as a whole an awesomely well rounded child will be the
outcome!
References
Lawrence, (Feb 16, 2008). POLICE AND JUVENILE Sage Publications Retrieved from www.sagepub.com/upm-data/19435_Section_II.pdf
Michon, K., (2014). Juvenile Law: Status Offenses, Nolo Law for All Retrieved from http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/juvenile-law-status-offenses-32227.html
W. J. Flynn, B. McDonough (2004). Police Work With Juveniles: Discretion, Model Programs, and School Police Resource Officers Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=206605