CJ420 Key Players

Objectives Weekly reminders Key Players –Police –Judges –Prosecutors –Probation –Aftercare

Have Juvenile Attitudes Toward Police Changed? Cincinnati Study: Hostility toward police increase from grade 7 to 9. Whites have much more favorable attitudes than African American’s. Girls have more favorable attitude than boys.

Have Juvenile Attitudes Toward Police Changed? Michigan Study: –Hostility toward the police significantly increased as students moved though junior high, but would still cooperate with police if they saw someone other than a friend commit a crime. –Most youth perceived friends as antagonistic. –Majority of students believe police are criticized too often. –1/3 white and 2/3 AA’s believe police accuse students of things they did not do. –2 out of 3 better off with more police and 8 percent want to be police.

How Do The Police Respond to Youthful Lawbreakers? Two aspects of police response to youthful lawbreakers are the factors that influence police processing of juveniles and the ways that police handle juvenile offenders.

How Do the Police Respond to Youthful Lawbreakers Cont? Factors that influence police discretion: –Only percent of juvenile encounters become official contacts or arrests. –The nature of the offense –Citizen Complaint –Sex –Race –Socioeconomic Status

How Do the Police Respond to Youthful Lawbreakers Cont? Factors that influence police discretion cont: –Individual characteristics –Nature of police-juvenile interaction –Department policy –External pressures in the community

How Do the Police Respond to Youthful Lawbreakers Cont? Informal and Formal Dispositions of Juvenile Offenders: Police have the option to: –Interview and release the juvenile –Divert the juvenile from juvenile court to an outside agency such as BBBS –Take youth to the station and provide a official reprimand and release them in the community –Issue a citation and refer to juvenile court –Issue a citation, refer to court and take to juvenile correctional facility

How Does the Police Organization Function? Proactive and Reactive Department specialized units: –Juvenile Officers –Juvenile Units –Gang Control Units

Courtroom Players Judges Referee Defense Attorney Prosecutor Non-judicial Support Personnel

Courtroom Players Cont. Judge- Decides the legal issues of a case. The judge also has the following responsibilities: –To set juvenile justice standards within the community and within the criminal and juvenile justice systems. –To make sure the juveniles appearing in front of the court are getting the constitutional safeguards they are entitled.

Courtroom Players Cont. Judges Cont. –To ensure that they systems that detect, investigate, resolve, and bring cases to court are working fairly and efficiently. –To make certain that there are an adequate number of attorneys of satisfactory quality to represent juveniles. –To know how cases that do not reach the juvenile court are being resolved.

Courtroom Players Cont. Judges Cont. –To monitor the progress of the child, family, and the supervisory agency to make certain that each complies with the courts order. –To be an advocate within the community on behalf of children and their families. –To oversee the juvenile probation department and court staff.

Courtroom Players Cont. Judges Cont. –Judges are chosen by: Governor Election Election without party affiliation Missouri Plan

Courtroom Players Cont. The Referee- Magistrate in Ohio –Due to high caseloads Magistrates are appointed by Judges to help dispose of cases. Usually status offenses and misdemeanors.

Courtroom Players Cont. Defense Attorney/ Respondent –Roles of Attorney: Advocate for the child Guardian to the child/ guardian ad litem An assistant to the court with responsibilities to the children

Courtroom Players Cont. Prosecutor/ Petitioner- Protects society and ensure that children facing the court are given their constitutional rights.

Non Judicial Support System Non-judicial Support Personnel- Any personnel providing help to the court. –Social workers –Bailiffs –Clerks –Secretaries

Probation Probation officers supervise juveniles while in the community.

Aftercare Supervision of offenders after a period of long term incarceration