NCJ Number
158693
Date Published
1988
Length
24 pages
Annotation
This manual provides a basic framework for establishing a system to monitor Great Britain's police practices in cautioning juveniles to divert them from formal proceedings in juvenile court, describes the information that should be collected, and offers suggestions on how to collate and present information.
Abstract
The text notes that information should be gathered regarding the rate of cautioning, the types of youths cautioned, whether cautions are increasing as an alternative to prosecutions or as an alternative to informal handling, whether local policies and practices encourage the police to make wider use of the caution, how court decisions are affected, and how diversion policies affect crime rates. Information should be collected regarding the individual, the offense, the responses, and outcomes. Specific topics should include the case number and name, date of birth, gender, race, address, school or work status, prior offenses, previous outcomes, most serious previous disposition, the number of current offenses, the most serious current offense, when and where the offense was committed, when the offense was detected, the location of the arrest, whether the youth admitted or denied the offense, and the complainant's views. When considering how to present findings, it is important to establish to whom the information is being provided and the relationship of the material to the main points being made. Computers are ideally suited to monitoring. Figures, appended forms and offense list, and 8 references