NCJ Number
166160
Journal
School Safety Dated: (Spring 1996) Pages: 20-23
Date Published
1996
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article describes an alternative plan for dealing with juvenile offenders who become involved in crimes on school campuses.
Abstract
The plan, which was developed in Fresno, Calif., is a model of interagency cooperation among the Fresno Unified School District, the Fresno Police Department, and the Fresno County Probation Department. In 1968, the Fresno Police Department, in an effort to improve the police department's image among youth, assigned seven officers to work in the junior high and elementary schools as school resource officers (SRO's). The SRO's exclusive assignment was to promote effective community relations between students and the police. The Fresno Police Juvenile Bureau was reorganized in 1974, and the seven SRO's were reassigned as juvenile detectives to each of the seven area high schools and their feeder schools. Each detective received an office at a high school, wore street clothes, and followed up on crimes that either occurred on the campus or involved the assigned school's students. Detectives generally conducted follow-up investigations on thefts, burglaries, sex crimes, and robberies. Today, these officers still respond to nearly every call from high school campuses. In the fall of 1992, a departmental policy change required the juvenile officers to wear uniforms and to drive marked police cars. Campus violence has steadily declined since the fall of 1992. The most positive change in the program occurred a little over 2 years ago when the Fresno County Juvenile Probation Department joined forces with the juvenile officers and the Fresno Unified School District to bring integrated police and juvenile probation services directly to the seven high schools. Each Police/Probation Team consists of one probation officer, one police officer, and designated school resource officers. Minors who are currently on probation and attend a Fresno Unified School District school are supervised by the campus-based probation staff. Within the framework of the team, police diversion programs were developed and implemented to respond to problems that range from truancy to minor criminal offenses. Each team also conducts informal hearings for students who have been cited for misdemeanor offenses. Since the inception of the police/probation team concept, there has been noticeable improvement in campus safety and violent crime on high school campuses. 1 table