Introduction
The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) has long recognized the need for communities to develop comprehensive and collaborative efforts to reduce juvenile gun violence. Components of a collaborative gun violence reduction program can include targeted police responses, surveillance of probationers, situational crime prevention using problem-solving strategies, parental supervision, peer mediation and conflict resolution, school-based interventions, community mobilization, legislation restricting youth access to guns, and tough sentences for crimes involving firearms (OJJDP, 1999). Effective prosecution of juvenile firearm offenders is another essential component of a successful gun violence reduction program.
Statistics from the recently published Juvenile Offenders and Victims: 1999 National Report (Snyder and Sickmund, 1999) reveal that although the homicide rate of juveniles has declined in recent years (after peaking in 1993), the role of firearms in homicides involving juvenile victims or juvenile offenders remains significant:
- In 1997, 56 percent of the Nation’s 2,100 murder victims ages 17 and
younger were killed with a firearm (Snyder and Sickmund, 1999).
- The percentage of homicides committed by juveniles with firearms increased
dramatically between 1987 and 1994. By 1994, 82 percent of all homicides
by juvenile offenders involved the use of a firearm (Snyder and Sickmund,
1999).
- In 1994, firearm injuries were the second leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 10 and 24 (National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 1996).
The number of juveniles with access to firearms also is significant:
- In 1994, the National School Boards Association estimated that each
day approximately 135,000 students nationwide carried guns into schools
(Maginnis, 1995).
- In a 1995 national survey, 7.6 percent of all students reported carrying
a firearm for fighting or self-defense at least once in the previous
30 days (Kann et al., 1996). This is nearly double the rate in 1990
(Weapon-carrying, 1991).
- It is estimated that 6,093 students were expelled nationally for bringing a firearm to school during the 1996–97 school year (U.S. Department of Education, 1998).
By 1994, laws in 18 States restricted the possession of handguns by juveniles, and another 14 States prohibited the possession of all firearms by juveniles (National Criminal Justice Association, 1997). An evaluation of the effectiveness of local gun laws and policies suggests that these laws can prevent and even reduce the number of firearm-related homicides (Howell, 1995).
Vigorous enforcement and effective prosecution of local gun laws are essential. This Bulletin details successful strategies implemented by the Seattle [WA] Police Department (SPD) and the King County [WA] Prosecutor’s Office that improved the effectiveness of both the police investigation and the prosecution of juvenile firearm offenders.
| Previous | Contents | Next |
 |
|
| Seattle’s Effective Strategy for Prosecuting Juvenile Firearm Offenders | |