NCJ Number
169453
Journal
Compiler Volume: 17 Issue: 2 Dated: (October 1997) Pages: 7-8
Date Published
1997
Length
2 pages
Annotation
This article examines the most recent trends in juvenile crime in Illinois to determine whether the increases that prompted the recent responses and attention have continued.
Abstract
More than 7,600 juveniles were taken into police custody for violent Index offenses -- including murder, criminal sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault -- in Illinois during 1995, 4 percent fewer than in 1993. Between 1985 and 1992, however, the number of juveniles taken into police custody for violent Index offenses increased 36 percent. Between 1985 and 1994, the number of juvenile delinquency petitions filed in Illinois increased almost 60 percent; however, from 1994 through 1996 juvenile delinquency petition filings statewide decreased 2 percent. In 1996 for the third year in a row, the number of delinquency petitions filed in Illinois' juvenile courts exceeded 30,000. During 1996 for the second year in a row, the number of juvenile probation cases -- including probation, supervision, informal supervision, and other categories -- exceeded 17,000. As with most juvenile justice system activities, admissions to temporary juvenile detention centers in Illinois increased considerably during the later 1980's and early 1990's. By 1996 the number of admissions to temporary detention centers in Illinois reached an all-time high of more than 18,800. The number of juvenile admissions to the Illinois Department of Corrections has reached record levels during recent years. During State fiscal year 1997, more than 2,700 juveniles were committed to the Department of Corrections, compared to less than 1,500 annually during the 1980's. Overall, there has been a stabilization in the juvenile system in recent years after the trend of exploding caseloads during the mid-1980's and early 1990's; however, this ebb in the flow of cases has not been experienced across all components of the juvenile justice system nor in all counties or regions of Illinois. 2 figures