Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 10, 1995 TAG: 9509110163
SECTION: NATL/INTL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PIERRE THOMAS THE WASHINGTON POST
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Juveniles have become the driving force behind the nation's alarming increases in violent crime, with juvenile arrests for murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault growing sharply over the last decade as handguns and drugs became more available, a new Justice Department study shows.
The study, billed as the most comprehensive compilation of youth-offender data to date, shows that juvenile arrests for major violent crimes grew from 83,400 in 1983 to 129,600 in 1992. The number of juvenile homicide offenders doubled from 969 in 1984 to 2,202 in 1991.
If those arrest rates continue and the juvenile population grows, as expected, by 22 percent over the next decade, the report projects a staggering 261,000 arrests of youth offenders in the year 2010 alone.
``What you see here is a road map to the next generation of crime,'' said Attorney General Janet Reno at her weekly news briefing. ``Unless we act now to stop young people from choosing a life of violence and crime, the beginning of the 21st century could bring levels of violent crime to our community that far exceed what we have experienced.''
``For decades violent crime was driven mostly by adults, with kids involved mostly in property crime'' said Dean Rojek, professor of sociology at the University of Georgia, in an interview. ``What's been changing is that you have juveniles becoming much more involved in violent offenses, with the use of weapons. If we add to this more babies, you could have a multiplier effect ... a mini explosion [in violent crime by youth].''
The report by the department's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention chronicles a number of disturbing trends that have developed over the last decade including the following:
nThe use of handguns by juveniles has grown steadily. In 1976, 59 percent of juvenile homicide offenders killed using a gun; by 1991, the figure was 78 percent.
nTeen-agers recently have become more likely victims of violent crime than adults over the age of 25.
The report, which took more than three years to complete, shows that juvenile arrests increased since 1983 despite a 10 percent decline in the number of 16- and 17-year-olds in the U.S. population during that period.
Melissa Sickmund, one of the report's two authors, said the current crime statistics and projections portend a worsening crisis.
``The rates are high enough now that this is a scary proposition,'' she said. ``Juvenile detention facilities are already crowded. Public safety demands that you take care of bad kids. These kids grow up. I don't think we can afford to have a nation of criminals.''
Large urban centers where crack cocaine and firearms were more available showed the most pronounced problems with juvenile violence. New York had the highest violent juvenile offender rate, followed by Florida, New Jersey, Maryland and California.
``Violence is tied to poverty, drug use,'' said Howard Snyder, the report's other author. ``All those factors are at play in urban areas.''
The report noted that African-American youth, many concentrated in the nation's inner cities, were referred to juvenile court at a rate double that of their white counterparts.
Although violence committed by juveniles has been a persistent and well-publicized problem in the District of Columbia, arrest statistics over the past few years do not show a clear trend.
In 1992, district police arrested 476 juveniles for the crimes of murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. In 1993, the number ballooned to 844.
Then, last year the total fell back to 689. This year's arrest figures are mirroring last year's, police said.
Reggie B. Walton, a district Superior Court judge who handles juvenile cases, said the demographics are just part of the cause for concern. ``When you couple that with bad parenting, bad neighborhoods and the easy accessibility of guns, all of that fuels the problems that we see coming,'' he said Thursday.
In many cases, fathers have disappeared, leaving children to be raised by young mothers who themselves are struggling with mental or emotional problems, limited education, poverty and addiction, he said.
These children then congregate on crime-ridden streets, and because of the availability of guns, can become ``walking time-bombs,'' Walton said.
``The greatest intervention would be better parents,'' the judge added. ``But how does society do that?''
by CNB