Kids join street gangs out of boredom, hopelessness regarding their futures, and to be a part of their neighborhood peer culture. The violent gang member and cop-killers have the greatest status among their peers today, helping to spur the increase of serious felonies by juveniles. Juvenile crime has risen over 200 percent in the last 10 years. For young females, the crime rates has risen 380 percent over the same period. This increase in juvenile crime is not just among inner city youth. The number of middle-class juvenile offenders has also significantly increased, particularly in the areas of drugs and burglary. The absence of economic opportunity for juveniles, the poor quality of public education, the influence of the drug subculture, and emotional deprivation all contribute to the susceptibility of juveniles to a deviant lifestyle. The juvenile justice system has changed little in its efforts to deal with juvenile deviancy. Juvenile offender institutions are still overcrowded and ineffective in bringing about significant change in their residents. The role of the police in the inner city has become increasingly difficult and dangerous. While the police have done little to cause and cannot do much to correct the conditions of misery in inner city ghettos, they become the targets for the frustration and hostility generated by inner city life and conditions. Police excesses in tough neighborhoods, while they cannot be condoned, should be understood as a quite human response to the hostile and violent environment the police are expected to control.