NCJ Number
96487
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1985) Pages: 28-35,38-41,44-45,64
Editor(s)
N Darwick,
C E Higginbotham
Date Published
1985
Length
15 pages
Annotation
Five articles describe three programs designed to protect children from becoming victims of crime and from becoming involved in crime, law-related education as a means of reducing juvenile delinquency, a program to reduce truancy, and educational films for and about juveniles.
Abstract
The police department of Virginia Beach, Va., has established a child fingerprinting program, a family trauma team to investigate cases of child abuse, and a crime awareness program consisting of six lessons for elementary school students. The use of law-related education in elementary and secondary schools is described, with emphasis on the police role and the impacts of the programs. The school district in Inglewood, Calif., has established Project HOPE (Helping Others Pursue Education) to reduce school truancy. The school district, the Los Angeles County Probation Department, the Los Angeles County Department of Social Services, the Inglewood Superior Court Juvenile Judges, and the Inglewood Police Department cooperate in a program providing truant students with a program of intensive counseling and makeup studies. If all efforts fail, the staff probation officer directs the youth to a hearing in juvenile court. The project appears to have produced a substantial drop in daytime crimes during the 1983-84 school year. Films on hitchhiking, child molestation, substance abuse, and other topics are also briefly reviewed.