Whitehead: Juvenile Justice, 7th Edition

1. Area merchants have been complaining about youths congregating on street corners. The merchants think that crowds of teens scare away potential customers. They have been calling the precinct to demand better control of the corners where youths gather. What should you do?
Your Answer

Correct Answer

A simple approach is to just give in and try and get the youths to disperse. Problem-solving policing, however, would entail trying to analyze the situation and come up with possible solutions. For example, if the community does not have sufficient recreational opportunities for youths, that may be the major reason for hanging out on corners. Perhaps the community needs to work on improving recreational programs for youths such as athletic leagues, Boys' and Girls' Clubs, and so on.



2. Does this complaint from the merchants raise any other concerns?
Your Answer

Correct Answer

It can raise at least two additional concerns. One is racial profiling. If you and other police single out minority youths, there may be claims of profiling. A second issue is attitudes toward the police. Black citizens have lower ratings of the police so whatever actions you take, you and your fellow officers need to be aware of possible effects on citizen attitudes toward the police.



3. What might be changing in reference to this problem of youths gathering on street corners and how police respond to the issue?
Your Answer

Correct Answer

As one study noted, it appears that police have more vehicle-related stops than years ago. Both adults and youths are increasingly mobile, so the future will most likely continue the trend of more police encounters with citizens who are driving or riding in cars and fewer stops on the street.

Case Study 2

You are a police officer assigned to patrol the rural areas of your county. Most nights are calm; there may be an occasional domestic dispute, but nothing very dangerous. The most trouble that occurs in this area of the county results from the behavior of teenagers. Around Halloween every year, teenagers pile into cars with baseball bats and cruise the streets looking for mailboxes to destroy.

This Halloween has been no different. Five to six mailboxes have been hit each night for the last three nights. Your captain has decided this behavior needs to be nipped in the bud and wants whomever is caught hitting a mailbox to be brought to the station and handled by him. His own mailbox was hit on the first night. You feel this teenage prank deserves different treatment but have never gone against the wishes of your captain.

You are driving around a sharp curve when you see a smashed mailbox. As you drive further down the road, you hear a loud bang and the squeal of tires. You speed up and see a teenage boy hanging out of a car window with a bat in hand. You turn on your lights, and the car immediately pulls over. To your surprise, it is your neighbor's son, Scott, in the backseat. He has always helped you out whenever you needed it. You never dreamed he would be one of the mailbox smashers. Scott and his friends seem appropriately terrified of you and remorseful for their actions. You know what the captain expects you to do next.

Questions

1. Should you take the offenders in to the station to be handled by the captain?
Your Answer

Correct Answer

Following your captain's orders, i.e., taking them in, is the safest option for your career, but your training in problem-solving police actions indicates that there may be other, possibly better, ways to handle the situation.



2. How would you handle this with a community policing or problem-solving police action?
Your Answer

Correct Answer

Taking the offenders to their parents might be an effective way to punish them and keep them from having a juvenile record.



3. Would it make a difference if the teenagers in the story were constant troublemakers with bad attitudes toward police?
Your Answer

Correct Answer

While police attitudes toward citizens and citizens' attitudes toward police often have an effect on outcomes, an officer should strive to use his or her discretion to select the most appropriate option for everyone involved.

Case Study 3

Terry is getting into repeated fights at Lakeview Middle School. Other students say that he starts the fights. School Resource Officer (SRO) Wilson thinks the matter should be referred to juvenile court for a possible delinquency petition. Guidance Counselor Martin disagrees. She thinks she can counsel Terry and refer him to a family counseling program, as she suspects that Terry's father has a drinking problem that contributes significantly to Terry's behavior at school.

Questions

1. Some critics argue that our schools are turning into something other than schools in which teachers and principals try to educate and also solve student problems. In other words, schools used to focus on education, and now they are turning into something else. What is that something else? What are critics claiming about the atmosphere and policies in many schools today?
Your Answer

Correct Answer

Some critics argue that our schools are turning into mini-prisons or parts of the juvenile justice system, as more and more SROs are hired. What used to be treated as a problem to be solved by a teacher or a guidance counselor is now being handled by a police officer. Critics also contend that zero-tolerance policies are resulting in too many students being suspended or expelled. Based on your experience in high school, do you agree with the critics?



2. Guidance Counselor Martin wants to avoid a referral to juvenile court. What is the general term for not using formal court processing but using something other than court? a. alternatives to court; b. diversion; c. transfer; d. none of the above
Your Answer

Correct Answer

b. diversion



3. Why are critics so concerned about this problem? What are the some of the related issues?
Your Answer

Correct Answer

First, critics argue that this will divert funds from needs in school for more teachers and school resources. Second, there is concern that neglecting the schools will increase problems for many students which might translate into increased delinquency.

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