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Detroit Finds Successful Jail Removal Approach

NCJ Number
172403
Journal
Profile Volume: 5 Issue: 3 Dated: (September 1992) Pages: complete issue
Author(s)
R Maniglia
Date Published
1992
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The Detroit Police Department initiated a three-tier approach in 1989 to improve its efforts to remove juveniles from adult jails.
Abstract
The agency hired a trained social worker who was working as a consultant to the agency to lead the effort on a full-time basis. Specific actions included training, the development of a videotape for police roll calls, structural changes in precinct stations, and the Juvenile Service Cadet program. Personnel at all levels received training on the proper procedures for handling juvenile status offenders and juveniles accused on a criminal offense, as well as on the diversion process, the causes of juvenile delinquency, adolescent development, and juvenile law. The agency used the Managing Juvenile Operations Training offered by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and conducted by the Federal Law enforcement Training Center. The videotape visually depicts the content of the police chief's special order on the handling of juveniles. The agency has also remodeled 10 of the 13 precinct stations, which now have facilities capable of holding juveniles in compliance with Federal and State law. The third tier of the Detroit program was to create four police cadet attendant positions in each precinct station to supervise juveniles held non-securely. Cadets work 8-hour shifts for $6 per hour after they pass an extensive background examination and successfully complete an oral evaluation and a training program. Figures and summary of earlier Michigan earlier efforts related to jail removal