The Police and Juvenile Crime Police Roles and Responsibilities Police–Juvenile Relations Police Discretion Race as a Factor in Juvenile Arrests Alternatives to Police Arrest and Custody

T first contact that a young juvenile offender has with the juvenile justice system is with a police officer. The nature and circumstances of this police contact are likely to be significant and have a lasting impression on a young person. In this chapter we examine police roles and responsibilities in general, and the unique roles that police have when dealing with juvenile offenders. Children and juveniles are involved in a variety of law violations ranging from status offenses to more serious offending, and present special challenges for the policing function. We discuss alternatives to traditional law enforcement strategies, such as communityor problemoriented policing; curfew enforcement; preventive efforts such as D.A.R.E. and School Resource Officers; police procedures for taking juvenile offenders into custody; legal guidelines for interrogation and gathering evidence; and police officers’ discretion in deciding whether to refer a case to juvenile court or to use other alternatives.