Khondaker Dr. Juvenile Justice System Journal 4 1. There are nine factors that influence the disposition of juveniles by police. The first is the nature of the offense. If the offense is more serious, the more likely the police will arrest the juvenile. The second is citizen complaints. If a citizen wishes that the juvenile be arrested, it is likely they will. Third is sex. Police are more likely to arrest young males over young females unless the female violates the traditional role expectation. Fourth is race. Minority juveniles are unique targets of the police due to racial bias. The fifth is socioeconomic status. Rich juveniles are more likely to be sent home instead of being jailed over poor juveniles. Sixth are individual characteristics. "The juvenile most likely to be arrested is older, has a serious record, and fits the image of a delinquent and dangerous person" (Bartollas, 2008, page 100). Seventh is nature of police-juvenile interaction. If a juvenile is nice to an officer, the less likely they will be arrested. Eighth is departmental policy. Professional departments arrest juveniles more often than the less professional departments. Last are external pressures in the community. The status of the juvenile, the press, and the availability of referral agencies affects police disposition. 2. Police discretion is "the choice between two or more possible means of handling a situation confronting the police officer" (Bartollas, 2008, page 99). Basically, the police officer can decide whether to admit the juvenile into the justice system or not. Studies show that only 10-20% of juveniles are actually entered into the system. Overall, police do abuse this power. If an officer is having a bad day, they are more likely to arrest more people than on a good day. They also use a lot more factors than the seriousness of the crime to determine whether to make arrests or not. That's not right.
3. Police both have informal and formal options when they come into contact with juveniles. The first informal option is on the streets. Good police officers know about the juveniles in their communities. Therefore, when situations arise, police know to whether take action or not. Most of the time, if an officer sees a wrongdoing, they will simply talk to the juvenile and tell him to change his ways. Another informal option is at the station. Most of the time, parents are called and there is just a meeting with the juvenile. In other instances, the youth is referred to programs or classes. The formal processing at the station is when a juvenile is arrested, they are booked, parents are called and then they are sent to juvenile court. Juveniles could also be put into holding before their court hearing. Juveniles could also automatically be sent to adult court. There is also combined informal and formal processing. Once a youth is arrested and booked, they are sent home with no further action or just a warning. Also, the juvenile could be referred to a youth agency after being taken into custody. 4. Arguments against the fingerprinting of juveniles make a good point. They say that they are afraid that once the juvenile gets fingerprinted, their records will not get erased when they are old enough to be strictly in adult court. The juvenile will be labeled as a criminal for the rest of their life and not be able to mature. 5. "Problem-oriented policing" is also known as community-oriented policing. It was proposed by Herman Goldstein in the late 1970s. POP states that "officers had to get involved personally with the local community in order to police effectively" (Bartollas, 2008, page 115). Police and the community are supposed to collaborate together in order to be effective and have trust. Also, the focus is on problems and not just the incidents. Once the problem is identified, the members of the community, including the police, work to try and solve the problem. The results usually end in a variety of activities that range from simple to complex. There are three criticisms with
POP. First, we cannot be sure that the crime rate is dropping due to this or broader societal changes. Second, no one can be sure which program works bests for each type of crime. Last, not all police are trusted yet. There are still barriers to overcome. Some communities do not want the problems solved.