Youth Crime: Police Contact & Options

Police Contact and Decision-Making

• Police have discretion in their decision-making, which gives them a number of options in youth crime cases.
• The YCJA indicates that an officer "shall" consider a warning rather than a formal sanction.
• Police in most provinces have the option to divert youth from the courts through extrajudicial measures provisions in the YCJA.
• A young person's involvement in the justice system may begin with police contact in a public setting or a complaint laid by parents, school authorities, or someone who has been victimized.
• A majority of youth crime comes to police attention through complaints.
• Police have a considerable amount of discretion in making decisions about how to proceed with youth who are suspected or accused.

Police Options

• Issuing a warning to the young offender about such behaviour and then letting the person go.
• Arresting and holding the youth in police custody and notify parents/guardians.
• Take the young person to the police station for questioning before releasing them.
• Writing a report on the young person before release.
• Charge the young person with an offence.
• Releasing the young person with conditions.
• Referring the young person to a diversionary program or youth justice committee.
• Hold the young person in detention (maximum 24 hours) for further judicial processing, beginning with a 'bail' hearing.

Police Contact and Decision-Making

• In 2003, the YCJA led to a 16% drop in youth charges.
• By 2003, 55% of youth were not processed through court, and by 2006, it rose to 58%.
• From 2008 onwards, the rate of informal processing remained around 56%.
• Informal measures mostly involve verbal warnings, with few referrals to community programs or diversionary committees.

Legal and Extralegal Factors

• Research has shown that there are legal and extralegal factors associated with police discretion.
• Legal factors refer to legal requirements or to things generally considered relevant criminal justice matters.
• Extralegal factors are those that are not necessarily or usually considered legitimate or relevant in justice decision-making.
• Example: Holding someone in pretrial detention based on skin color is discriminatory and illegal, while doing so due to the seriousness of the offense is not.

Legal Factors Affecting Police Discretion

• Seriousness of the offence influences police decisions to lay a charge: the main factor for 98% of officers in laying a charge.
• Prior police contact (known to police), Youth's display of responsibility, Prior convictions (a criminal record), and breaching a probation order also influences police decisions.
• The Criminal Code confers police broad authority in making decisions about arresting and releasing youth.

Race

• Legal factors influence police charging, but it is extremely difficult to separate some of these factors, particularly prior record, from extralegal factors.
• Minority youth are more likely to be arrested and have a record.
• Minority race may be a more significant factor than having a police record.

Demeanour and Race

• A young person's manner is a consistent factor that affects the outcome of encounters with police.
• Demeanour and race affect outcome in encounters with police.
• African American youth who expect the worst from police may act defiantly, leading police to perceive them as more threatening and hostile.
• Studies of Aboriginal youth in Canadian cities found that charge rates were significantly higher for Aboriginal youth than for non-Aboriginal youth.

Disproportionate Minority Contact With Police

• Wortley and Owusu-Bempah (2011) argues that Canada's unofficial ban on race-based crime statistics prevents the examination of racial disparities, hindering efforts to address bias.
• Without such data, courts and police can deflect allegations of racism and avoid accountability.
• The challenge in determining the existence and nature of racial discrimination is a lack of data.
• The lack of statistics on race kept by the justice system does not permit a full examination of personnel practices.

Disproportionate Minority Contact With Police

• Two explanations proposed for contact:
• Differential involvement suggests that minority groups are more likely to be engaged in criminal activity.
• Differential treatment refers to the presence of discriminatory practice by justice system personnel, including racial discrimination.

Class and Marginalization

• Evidence on social class and police discretion can come only from research, with results being mixed and not recent.
• Lower income suspects have higher arrest rates than youth from middle-class neighbourhoods.
• Much of this is based on police perceptions of different neighbourhoods in a city.
• Police attitudes toward crime-prone areas and citizen complaints were strong predictors of delinquency rates.
• Homeless youth's survival behaviours are increasingly criminalized through repressive enforcement measures.
• In response to business pressures and public complaints, municipal governments pass laws and policies which increase police surveillance, further marginalizing and criminalizing homeless youth.

Age and Gender

• Gender differences in charging depend on age and the nature of the offence.
• Older boys are more likely to be charged and go to court than older girls, with younger girls more likely to be charged and go to court than younger boys.
• Police are more likely to respond harshly to girls involved in minor offences but less likely to arrest girls for more serious offences.

Family and Community

• Both the family and the community impact police discretion.
• When parents are more concerned about their kids, only a warning is given, parental involvement was the one extralegal factor. About 42% of Canadian police officers said it was important in their decision-making.
• When parents were supportive, police were more likely to use discretionary measures or release youth to them.
• When parents minimized the situation or denied involvement, police were more likely to lay charges and impose strict conditions.
• When communities have youth centres, safe houses, and other programs, police have more choices for diversion.

Police Departments and Risk Management Programs

• Some Canadian police departments have risk-management programs for high-risk youth in their jurisdictions.
• Risk-management programs involve intensive supervision of the youth and their family for up to two years.
• If no improvement is seen, the youth may be moved to more intrusive programs like Police Attending Youth (PAY) which involves detailed investigations and coordination for prosecution.

Diversionary Measures

• The JDA (1908-1984) lacked specific provisions for diversion and relied on police discretion to keep youth out of the justice system.
• Concerns about stigmatization and criminalization led to the development of diversion programs, like Quebec's Youth Protection Act in 1977.
• The YOA (1984-2003) emphasized diversion and the principle of least possible interference for youth who commit offences.
• Under the YOA, police discretion was limited by law, particularly in diversionary measures, which were restricted to first-time offenders.

Diversionary Measures

• In the YCJA (2003-present), diversion has been formalized under the concept of extrajudicial measures.
• Extrajudicial measures involve processing the offender by means other than the courts, which are less formal, and are ordered by police and other justice officials before charges are laid and without an admission of guilt.
• Extrajudicial sanctions are used when warnings, cautions, and referrals are insufficient, and when the young person should be held accountable due to the seriousness of the offence and their prior record, and can be applied pre- or post-charge.

Diversionary Programs

• Alternative measures programs across the country involved four types of programming:
• Reconciliation/mediation is a conflict resolution, where offenders and victims are brought together, apologies, verbal or written, and the writing of essays or letters are among the program elements.
• Retributive/restitutive is more punitive and involves restitution through fines, financial compensation to (or actual work for) victims, or community service.
• Rehabilitative/educational help the young person understand the impact of their actions on themselves, the victim, and society while offering a chance to reflect on their development, values, self-esteem, peer pressure, and decision-making skills.
• Restorative justice involves community conferencing, family -conferencing, or healing circles emphasizing reintegration, victim involvement, and harm reduction.

Youth Justice Committees

• The Youth Justice Committee consists of citizen committees that assist in administering the Act and providing programs or services for young people.
• Functions of a Youth Justice Committee:
• Giving advice on extrajudicial measures
• Facilitating reconciliation
• Ensuring community support is available to youth
• Helping to coordinate youth services with activities of the justice system
• Advising federal and provincial governments on the justice system's compliance with the act and various policies and procedures of youth justice and provides public information on the act and the youth justice system.

Diversionary Measures Issues

• A review of diversionary measure issues which include:

1. Police accountability
2. Net widening
3. Consistency and accountability
4. Mediation, reconciliation, and conferencing
5. Administration, control, and inequality of access

Police Accountability

• Two key issues with police diversionary practices are increased use of detention and the imposition of release conditions that are further criminalizing youth.
• The YCJA has significantly reduced youth custody sentences, but police detention rates have increased.
• Research shows that under the YCJA, police detain more youth, release more with conditions, and charge more when those conditions are violated compared to the YOA.
• Police decisions to detain youth are influenced by the Criminal Code and YCJA, without specific rules for police regarding custody.

Net Widening

• Net widening is the tendency for policies intended to reduce the number of people in the justice system to actually increase the number.
• Diversion is formalized and therefore it creates a justice system that still labels the youth in a different manner.
• Diversion is seen as beneficial, helping to avoid the consequences of incarceration and high court costs.
• Critics argue that formalizing diversion leads to more individuals entering the system, which Cohen (1985) describes as "widening of the net."

Consistency and Accountability

• The main issues regarding youth referrals to extrajudicial sanctions and extrajudicial measures is lack of transparency, accountability, and consistency.
• Prosecutors have broad discretion in these decisions, with little public or judicial oversight, leading to potential unfairness and inconsistency.

Mediation, Reconciliation, and Conferencing

• A key issue in mediation programs is the role of victims.
• Successful mediation needs both the accused and the accuser to participate, but some victims are hesitant to face the accused.
• One critical issue with conferencing interventions is shaming, and misusing it can lead to disintegrative effects.

Administration, Control, and Inequalities of Access

• Not every community, and therefore every offender, has access to diversion programs.
• Rural and isolated areas face difficulties in delivering youth justice services due to a lack of resources, and that Aboriginal youth are particularly disadvantaged by the lack of programs available for diversion.