NCJ Number
134971
Date Published
1991
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This annual monitoring report for 1990 contains information on the number of minors 17 years old or younger placed in secure confinement in California police facilities during calendar year 1990.
Abstract
The monitoring system developed by the Youth Authority in response to SB 1637, which limits the placement of juveniles in adult facilities, is apparently operating efficiently. Accuracy of the reporting system is continually improving. Since passage of SB 1637 in 1987, frequent contacts between Youth Authority and police staff have removed much misconception and erroneous reporting. The Youth Authority's Prevention and Community Corrections Branch has worked with local agencies to reduce inappropriate confinements of minors and to improve their systems for reporting to the Youth Authority. Data for 1990 indicate that just under 50,000 minors were securely confined in police facilities during the year. This is about half the number of confinements recorded by the monitoring system each year from 1976 to 1982. The numbers confined over 6 hours decreased from over 11,000 in 1984 to 404 in 1990. Those held over 24 hours decreased from 485 in 1984 to 186 in the current year. The number of minors placed in county jails and other sheriffs' facilities has been reduced from nearly 27,000 in 1981 to 5,745 in 1990. 5 tables and appended supplementary data