While a state Attorney General report on juvenile crime around
the state shows arrests were down significantly in 2004, Hollister
Police Department statistics show there is a 20 percent increase in
underage arrests locally this year.
Hollister – While a state Attorney General report on juvenile crime around the state shows arrests were down significantly in 2004, Hollister Police Department statistics show there is a 20 percent increase in underage arrests locally this year.
One of the state report’s highlights show there were 15,000 fewer arrests for juvenile offenders in 2004 in California – down to 206,201 from 2003’s 221,875 arrests.
Although Hollister’s reports were in line with those stats last year, Police Chief Jeff Miller said 2005 is showing 20 percent more juvenile arrests, while adult arrests have decreased 3 percent over the previous year. To date in 2005, 228 juveniles have been arrested, while there were only 190 during the same time period last year within the city.
Miller could not give a clear-cut reason why juvenile arrests are increasing this year over last, what caused the decrease in 2004, or what the majority of offenders are being arrested for.
However, San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill said law enforcement’s attempts to instate programs, specifically within the school system, has been a deterrent to youth committing crimes. Hill was unable to provide statistics on the number of juvenile arrests within his department.
Hill cited the work of the department’s school resources officer, Deputy Rich Brown, at San Benito High School and San Andreas School, as being a success in helping keep students on the right path.
“It’s that kind of thing that really pays dividends,” he said.
But the sheriff conceded law enforcement has noticed a trend of younger offenders committing more violent crimes, locally, throughout the state and nationwide, he said. Encompassed in that trend is the proclivity of young offenders to be drug users and often entrenched in gang life, he said.
Hollister police responded to three gang-related attempted murders of 19-year-old Hollister men over the past couple of weeks. All three suffered shotgun wounds to the torso or abdomen, and police have yet to generate leads on the gunmen.
“A lot of families are either single parent or both parents are working so these young people have no real family base. So they get it from a gang, which gives them everything they need – structure, and the gang holds them accountable and responsible and the parents do not,” Hill said. “Then you’ve got 8 percent of the population doing 80 percent of the crimes.”
San Benito High School Superintendent Jean Burns-Slater agreed that programs such as the Hollister Police Department’s Juvenile Impact Program – which focuses on kids already on probation – and extracurricular programs such as sports are positive ways to keep kids on the straight and narrow.
“Holding young people accountable for their behavior has a big impact,” Burns Slater said. “Students are constantly interested in connecting with people. If they don’t have connections in their neighborhoods or are isolated from their families … schools need to provide them those connections.”
While she said there is definitely a correlation between juvenile crime and gangs, she championed Hollister’s youth – whether they are her students or not.
“I feel safe on our campus,” she said. “We have young people here who have been cared for by their families. I’m proud to be associated with these teenagers.”
San Benito County Chief Probation Officer Deborah Botts was unable to provide statistics from her department on underage offenders, but said juvenile crime has been on the decrease for some time. She attributed much of that to state-funded programs instated several years ago that are finally having a noticeable effect today.
Programs such as the probation department’s juvenile justice prevention program that focuses on high-risk youth plays a major role in decreasing the number of minors who find themselves ensconced in the justice system. However, every year the department has to fight to continue receiving the funding due to statewide budget shortfalls, Botts said.
But all of the officials agreed that agencies, programs, schools and police can only do so much.
“My own opinion is it has to start at home, it has to start young. Parents have to set boundaries, they have to persist in that throughout childhood until they’re adults and they leave the nest,” Miller said. “If I had to pick one area that I would concentrate everything on, it would be parents and helping them understand their role and authority. I think sometimes they cede that authority or don’t exercise it much to detriment of their children.”
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or
em*******@fr***********.com
