Law Review on Civil Citation and Pre-arrest Diversion
Smart policing in action: Ceremonious citations for juveniles
In Miami, the Miami-Dade County (MDC) State Chaser's Office (SAO) and the 34 local police departments accept a close working relationship. Together, we have helped reduce the crime rate by near 70% in the final 30 years. We have achieved these smashing results by treating offenders as individuals and addressing them co-ordinate to the severity of their misconduct and criminogenic needs, a method nosotros refer to as Smart Justice. As part of our strategy, we developed and implemented a civil citations programme in 2007 that allows officers to cite juveniles who commit low level misdemeanors in lieu of absorbing them. MDC law departments take successfully cited instead of arresting over xx-one thousand (21,000) youth since the program's inception. In this article, we discuss the programme's use and how information technology has helped us drive down the crime charge per unit while saving significant resources.
During a nix-tolerance era in our school organization State Attorney Fernandez Rundle helped develop a pre-arrest civil citation plan for kickoff-time misdemeanor juvenile offenders in 2007. She also promoted legislation for the use of civil citations statewide.
MDC's civil citation programme now is well-established and efficient. Officers may cite juveniles who commit any misdemeanor offenses, other than those involving a firearm, sexual related beliefs, or gang activity, including those who commit petit theft and possession of misdemeanor. Notwithstanding, officers must obtain victim approval for cases involving bombardment, set on, or graffiti and SAO blessing for cases involving carrying a curtained weapon and fauna cruelty.
When an officer cites a juvenile, the case is submitted to the SAO for approval. If the SAO approves, the Juvenile Services Department (JSD) assesses the youth to determine what services they need and to create a treatment plan. The typical plan takes three months to complete. Every bit part of the plan, participants must pay restitution to the victim (if any), undergo handling (if necessary), and, in many cases, perform community service hours. When juveniles successfully complete the programme, the charges are dropped and the citations are destroyed. If they fail to complete the program, the case is sent dorsum to the SAO for further processing and potential referral to another, more than formal, diversion programme or criminal prosecution, equally advisable.
Civil commendation programs tin be beneficial in many means. Equally the International Clan of Chiefs of Constabulary (IACP) recognizes, citing someone for a low-level crime in lieu of abort saves pregnant law time (24.2 minutes versus 85.eight minutes on boilerplate) and effort. See Citation in Lieu of Arrest: Examining Law Enforcement's Use of Citation Across the United States – Final Report (IACP April 2016) and Citation in Lieu of Abort: Examining Law Enforcement'due south Use of Commendation Across the United States – Literature Review (IACP April 2016). This allows officers to return to the streets faster, where they can focus their efforts on more serious crimes.
Further, ceremonious citation programs can reduce the costs of prosecution. See due east.g. Juvenile Services Department Cost Assay at three, Miami-Dade County Function of Strategic Business concern Management. The Caruthers Institute, which studied information from 2014-2018 from Florida, found that civil citations save between $1,467 to $4,614 per re-abort diversion. They reported that Florida has saved between $seventy meg and $221 one thousand thousand since the plan'southward inception, if not more. Caruthers, D., See Stepping Up: Florida's Top Juvenile Prearrest Diversion Efforts (Caruthers Institute 2019).
Most importantly, these programs do more than relieve time and coin; they as well promote public condom. Juveniles who are given civil citations recidivate at a very low charge per unit. See e.g. Civil Citation and Similar Diversion Programs All-time Practices Guide (Florida Section of Juvenile Justice 2019).
In fact, DJJ reports that youth who are cited instead of arrested and diverted take "significantly better outcomes than youth who were eligible for Ceremonious Citation merely were arrested in diverted" (four% v. 9%). Pla, Julia, Briefing Written report: Civil Citation Effectiveness Review (DJJ July 1, 2014).
We believe the programme reduces recidivism for ii reasons. First, the handling programs accost the youths' criminogenic needs. Second, they eliminate unnecessary contact with the criminal justice system and labeling. See east.g. Kroska, A., et al, Juvenile Delinquency and Self-Sentiments: Exploring a Labeling Theory Suggestion, 98:ane Social Science Quarterly 73 (March 2017). Labeling youths as "delinquent" or "criminal" may undermine their self-esteem and/or create a self-fulfilling prophecy. Id. Thus, civil citations programs benefit anybody, the general public and individual offenders alike.
While the program was designed to help youth avoid contact with the criminal justice system, some skeptics expressed concerned that officers might "widen the internet" past citing people they normally would not take arrested anyway. In 2018, researchers from Florida State University reviewed data from all juveniles cited or arrested past law enforcement officers in Florida between January 2002 and July 2016 to address those concerns. They constitute that most jurisdictions successfully implemented the programme without significant net-widening effect. See Nadel, Grand., et al, Civil Citation: Diversion or Net Widening?, 55 Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 278 (2018).
Today, MDC officers routinely cite eligible juveniles in lieu of arrest. In Fiscal Twelvemonth 2018-2019, MDC officers issued civil citations to 777 of 849 (92%) eligible youth instead of arrested them.
Encounter the Florida Section of Juvenile Justice'south (DJJ) Civil Citation & Other Alternatives to Arrest Dashboard. Importantly, officers exercised their discretion consistently across races and ethnicities giving citations to 89% of eligible White youth, 90% of eligible Black youth, and 93% of eligible Hispanic youth. Id.
Smart Policing works. By treating people, specially youth, as individuals and addressing the needs of those can rehabilitate, we can simultaneously reduce costs and improve public safety. That is Smart Justice.
Katherine Fernandez Rundle
Stephen K. Talpins
Katherine Fernandez Rundle is state attorney for Miami-Dade County and Stephen K. Talpins is the chief assistant state attorney for Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office.
Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-news/smart-policing-in-action-civil-citations-for-juveniles/
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