NCJ Number
89524
Date Published
1982
Length
38 pages
Annotation
A survey of police agencies in 20 States examines the dispositions used by police with juveniles, factors determining their use in particular cases, and police differential treatment of first-time and repeat juvenile offenders.
Abstract
A total of 365 questionnaires were returned from a mail survey of 452 police agencies randomly sampled from the 20 States subjected to an intensive analysis of their juvenile statutes. The States involved were Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. Although there were differences in the State juvenile codes bearing upon police handling of juveniles, police practices among the States tended toward uniformity. For example, the specified use of diversion in juvenile statutes varied among the States, but the police use of diversion did not correspond to these differences. The homogeneity of police practices across States, however, is not matched by homogeneity within States, as the police agencies tend to function within their specific community and organizational constraints. The police generally do not see their dispositions of juveniles as punishment, with the net effect that the police may communicate this attitude to the juveniles and undermine the deterrent effect of their encounters with juveniles. Another finding was that despite the absence of explicit legislative mandates for differential treatment of first-time and repeat offenders, the police tend to treat first-time offenders more leniently than repeat offenders. The questionnaire is appended, and seven bibliographic entries are provided. For related material, see NCJ 89522.