
Runaways were once categorized as either adventurous juveniles or rebellious teens. Today's more evolved view holds that runaways are victims of dysfunctional family situations. This change in beliefs has forced a change in the police response to runaways.
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Notwithstanding the explosion of youth criminality, the court has largely continued to treat juvenile offenders in a more lenient and paternalistic fashion than adults.
Read More →A few weeks ago, the Golden State passed what may be the only law of its kind in the nation. Approved as a so-called "urgency measure," the statute "prohibits the use of children age 12 and under as informants" in police investigations.
Read More →My pager went off one afternoon a few months later. It was Andy and he seemed to be upset. He had gone to see a Marine recruiter and was told that because of his past run-ins with the law, he wouldn't even make it past the interview stage.
Read More →The sovereign nation of San Francisco has its own immigration policy and its own deportation system.
Read More →In a Broken Windows crime model, graffiti is one of those foothold crimes that leads to a neighborhood's decay.
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While such acts are rarely reported in the media, one in three schools has reported acts of vandalism each year. In 1990 more than $600 million in damage to school property was caused by vandals. By understanding the nuances of vandalistic acts, patrol officers can develop specialized responses to help minimize future attacks.
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Interviewing a child is in some ways very similar to interviewing any crime victim but, in some ways, it's very different. The first hurdle is to get the child to open up.
Read More →Street racing of automobiles has been an American tradition since the early 1950s and probably long before. It’s not hard to imagine the first owners of Model T Fords staring each other down as they ran their “Tin Lizzies” down the rutted roads of the early 20th century. But the hey-day of street racing was the “I Like Ike” era when kids in souped-up Chevys and Fords would race for car titles and teenage glory.
Read More →Sometimes a schoolyard scuffle is just a simple fight. Sometimes it’s a clear cry for help from a kid battling bigger demons at home. And sometimes it portends more serious violence from a disturbed, future-felon-in-the-making.
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