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Co-Offending and Patterns of Juvenile Crime
The National Institute of Justice has released this study on juveniles who commit crimes in pairs or in groups, known as co-offending. Researchers linked co-offending with increased risks for recidivism and violence. Interaction among delinquent peers seems to instigate crimes and escalate their severity. The researchers recommend early intervention targeting very young offenders, especially co-offenders. 18 page pdf file. ++++++++++ Nathaniel Abraham Moved to Pre-Release Activities
Although Oakland County Family Court Judge Eugene Moore (also a past president of NCJFCJ) is reluctant to allow Abraham to leave his training school for day trips and other activities, he also realizes he will be released into the community in January, 2007. He has made some progress in his six years at the W. J. Maxey Training School, but still has trouble controlling his anger, is narcissistic and self-centered. When Abraham was 11 years old he shot and killed a 19 year old outside a party store in Pontiac, Mich. ++++++++++ Youth Gun Use in Boston Up Boston police department statistics show: Half of the 632 people arrested or sought in Boston on illegal gun possession and gun assault charges through October 31 this year are 21 or younger. Seventy-five were 17 and under, compared with 55 during the same period last year. Overall, the number of gun arrests and arrest warrants is up 37% in Boston this year over last.
Two troubling trends threaten to reverse gains made during the Boston Miracle in the mid-1990s. Police are not only battling a surge in gun possession among young people, but also a rising population of offenders who are leaving prison and returning to old habits. ++++++++++ The Impact of the California Three-Strikes Law A study to be released tomorrow (10/20/05) reports that there is no consensus on whether California’s three-strikes law has made the streets safer. The study found about one-quarter of the state’s prisoners – or about 40,000 men and women – are serving time for a second or third strike. Most are in prison for nonserious or nonviolent crimes. The law remains popular with politicians and the public. ++++++++++ Violent Crime in the U.S. Declined 2.2 % Last Year The newly released FBI Uniform Crime Report offers no reasons for the trends downward in crime. Experts attribute declines to a variety of factors, including an aging population and harsher punishments. Rates for the most serious offenses – murder, rape, robbery – are down to a level 32% lower than those reported in 1995. Property crimes – burglary, larceny and auto theft – declined 2.1% last year. The only crime to experience an increase was forcible rape, with an increase of 0.8%. ++++++++++ Students E-Mail Reports of Crime and Bullying A new web site, www.alertrecall.com, makes it possible for kids to report crimes, potential crimes, dangerous situations, bullying, drug activity, gang fights, and other activities anonymously. The web site is the creation of Phoenix, Ariz., police officer Cecil Jackson. Within two days of the web site going online a tip led to the arrest of a 17-year-old boy in the shooting of another teen. Since March, when the site went online, 60,000 emails have come in. ++++++++++ Victimization and Offending, 1993-2003
The BJS (Bureau of Justice Statistics) presents findings about violent crime committed against or by juveniles from 1993 to 2003. Like all other age groups, juveniles 12-17 years old experienced a decline in violent crime victimization from 1993 to 2003, with younger teens having the largest decreases. Report highlights: The number of victimizations by violent crime per 1,000 teenagers dropped from about 130 victimizations in 1993 to about 60 in 2003. The decline occurred in all crime categories and among all racial and ethnic groups.
On average, juveniles (ages 12-17) were more than twice as likely as adults (age 18 or older) to be the victim of violent crime from 1993 to 2003.
The violent crime rate for younger teens fell by about 59% during the decade, compared to 50% declines for older teens (15-17) and 53% declines for adults.
Older teens (15-17) were about 3 times more likely than younger teens (12-14) to be the victim of a violent crime involving a firearm.
Juveniles were involved as victims or offenders in 38% of all violent crimes in which the victims could estimate the aged of the offenders, 1993-2003.
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Washington State’s Experience with Research-Based Juvenile Justice Programs
This PowerPoint presentation describes Washington State’s experiences implementing research-based programs in juvenile justice. The presentation includes a history of the research-based effort in Washington State, program outcome evaluations, quality assurance principles, and cost-benefit meta-analyses.
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Remember the Superpredators? How About the Massive Crime Wave Predicted for 2004?
In 1995, James Alan Fox told USA Today “There is a tremendous crime wave coming in the next 10 years, fueled not by old, hardened criminals, but by a group he calls ‘the young and the ruthless.’ The Richmond Times-Dispatch interviews Fox and other juvenile justice luminaries about the crime wave that never was and why they think it didn’t happen.
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Violence in the Lives of Children
Child Trends Databank’s new release on the role of violence in the lives of every child in the country includes information on the types of violence that affect children’s lives, the latest research studies, and the intersection of violence with age, gender and race/ethnicity. 13 page pdf file. Also from Child Trends – What Works: Programs and Interventions that May Influence Outcomes for Youth and Young Children
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Parents Pay $7 Million for Son’s Knife Attack
A Hamilton County (Cincinnati, Ohio) jury awarded $10 million to Casey Hilmer and her parents for a 2003 attack that almost killed Casey. Then 17-year-old Benjamin White attacked Casey, then 13, as she jogged. He stabbed her four times in the face, neck and side, almost killing her. The Hilmers named Benjamin’s parents in the suit, claiming that they failed to stop their son and failed to protect the community. Attorneys for the Hilmers presented evidence that White had a history of explosive reactions, attacks on classmates and drug abuse.
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Trigger Lock law help cut gang-related killings in San FranciscoThe number of killings in San Francisco attributed to gangs in largely African American neighborhoods has dropped by more than 50% so far this year from 2004, thanks in part of intervention by federal law enforcement. Police say the most important factor in the decline is the federal Trigger Lock law, which provides for prison terms of 10 years or more for convicted felons who are caught with a gun. ++++++++++Juvenile Court Statistics 2000 The National Center for Juvenile Justice in Pittsburgh (NCJFCJ’s research arm) presents this 123 page report, the 74th such report in its series on Juvenile Court Statistics. The report analyzes offenses charged in delinquency cases, demographic characteristics of juveniles involved, sources of referral, and case processing. It also profiles status offense cases disposed between 1985 and 2000. The data in this report comes from more than 2,000 courts with jurisdiction over 71% of the juvenile population of the country in 2000.
Downloadable pdf file. ++++++++++Violence by Gang Members, 1993-2003 BJA report says gang members committed about 6% of violent crime in the nation, according to the victims. Violent crimes for which victims identified the offender to be a gang member peaked in 1996 at 10% of all violent crime and decreased until 1998 to about 6%, and not changing significantly since. 2 pages. Downloadable. ++++++++++Violence Rises among Teen Girls The Boston Globe reports on incidents of violence among girls in Boston. The number of girls arraigned in Dorchester District Court for violent crimes increased from 120 in 2000 to 196 in 2004. During the same period, the number of girls arraigned for all crimes rose from 197 to 320. The number of girls in the custody of the state Department of Youth Services increased from 169 in January 1995 to 442 on May 1, 2005. As of April 30, 54% of the girls in DYS custody awaiting trial were facing charges for violent crime.
++++++++++ New Study Finds Delinquent Youths More Likely to Suffer Violent Deaths Linda Teplin, professor of psychiatry at Northwestern University and the study’s lead author, says the statistics her team uncovered on youth in the Cook County, Illinois, juvenile detention system are a sad statement on the violence many poor and minority children confront. Teplin said that the 52 children who died in school shootings in the country between 1990 and 2000 got far more attention than the far greater number of suicides involving inner city youth. In New York City alone there were 840 homicides of kids 14 to 17 during the same time period.
The study tracked 1,829 youths ages 10 to 19 that had been held at the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center over a period of eight years. They found that: As of March 2004, 65 had died between the ages of 15 and 24. Almost all the deaths were violent and involved guns (more than 90% of deaths were from gunshot wounds). The overall death rate was four times that among other youths the same age. One startling finding from the study is that delinquent girls are eight times more likely to die than girls in the general population.
++++++++ Lionel Tate Arrested in Pizza Burglary
Lionel Tate, whose first-degree murder conviction in 2001 made him the youngest person sentenced to life without parole in the United States, was arrested Monday night after a pizza deliveryman said the 18-year-old robbed him at gunpoint in Pembroke Park, Florida. ++++++++++ |
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