THE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR JUVENILE JUSTICE AND THE SHERIFF OF WAYNE COUNTY, MICH., DISCUSSED JUVENILE DIVERSION FROM A RESEARCHER'S AND A PRACTITIONER'S POINT OF VIEW, WITH ATTENTION TO THE HISTORY OF POLICE DISCRETION, THE DEVELOPMENT OF POLICE DIVERSION, AND THE SCOPE OF FEDERAL FUNDING OF POLICE OPERATED DIVERSON PROGRAMS. THE HISTORY OF DISCRETION IS TRACED FROM THE FOUNDING OF JUVENILE COURTS TO THE CHILD'S RIGHTS CASES OF THE 1960'S AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL STRATEGIES FOR JUVENILE COURT DIVERSION, INCLUDING EXPERIMENTS WITH YOUTH SERVICES BUREAUS. THE EARLY PROBLEMS WITH UNREGULATED POLICE DISCRETION (E. G., UNFAIR OR INEQUITABLE APPLICATION OF INFORMAL DISCRETION) ARE DISCUSSED, AS ARE THE INITIAL EFFORTS AT SYSTEMATIZING THE DIVERSION OF YOUTH FROM THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. THE LIMITED SUCCESS OF SHORT-RANGE DIVERSON PROGRAMS, THE LACK OF WORKABLE LONG-RANGE EFFORTS, AND ABUSES OF DIVERSION INITIATIVES--SUCH AS THE BLACKSTONE RAIDERS AFFAIR IN CHICAGO--ARE ASSAILED AND IT IS ARGUED THAT RESEARCH FINDINGS SHOW INCREASINGLY LESS SUPPORT FOR LABELLING THEORY AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF DIVERSION PROGRAMS. IT IS STRESSED, HOWEVER, THAT RESEARCHERS TEND TO LOOK FOR PERFECTION AND IDEAL PROGRAM MODELS, AND THEREFORE, THE LACK OF EMPIRICAL SUPPORT FOR DIVERSION EFFORTS MAY NOT NECESSARILY SIGNAL INEFFECTIVENESS. FURTHER, IT IS ARGUED THAT POLICE-RUN DIVERSION EFFORTS ARE NECESSARY BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF JUVENILE COURT ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE APPARENT INEFFECTIVENESS OF JUVENILE COURT SANCTIONS. (KBL)