Juvenile Justice System Analysis

This article discusses new policies for the Los Angeles school system in order to reduce arrest rates. Students have been getting arrested for on-campus fights and damaging school property for years in Los Angeles. Recently, school officials adopted a new set of policies to decrease the number of students feeding into the juvenile court system. The goal of these new policies is to reduce the arrest rates in Los Angeles’ schools. Once these policies are implemented, students who deface school property, are involved will not be given citations from the Los Angeles School Police Department but will instead receive disciplinary action from within the schools. Given that the Los Angeles school system is the second largest in the nation it is concerning that researchers have found students at these schools are far more likely to receive a criminal citation than students in other areas infamous for delinquency such as Chicago, Philadelphia or New York. In addition, black and Latino students are more often subject to harsh disciplinary procedures.

Both the Attorney General and Education Secretary have condemned the “zero tolerance” policies that these new policies will be replacing. Zero tolerance policies have been shown to be ineffective at reducing crime but are causing an overflow of students in the juvenile court system. The goal of these new policies is to prevent students being arrested or given citations for small infractions of rules or schoolyard fights. Citations are issued by the county Probation Department and can prevent teenagers from obtaining a driver’s license. Arrests most often involve mandatory appearance in

Juvenile Court for the student and his or her parents, and often a fine which can be a hardship for lower income