Public Safety
Juvenile Intakes
Juvenile intakes, representing incidents in which a juvenile is alleged to have broken the law, are difficult to compare across regions because of differences in policy and types of behavior. However, despite these differences, juvenile intakes in general have declined in Virginia.
Why is This Important?
Juvenile intakes provide a measure of policy, workload and scope related to adolescent problem behaviors occurring in a community. They should not be interpreted as the amount or seriousness of juvenile crime.
Intake data include all offenses for which a child is brought to the Court Service Unit. It further includes not only the cases in which the police officer brings the child to the Court Service Unit, but also the complaints that are brought by parents, neighbors or others who do not call the police for an arrest.
How is Virginia Doing?
Virginia's juvenile intake rate has remained generally unchanged over the last several years. The lowest rate in 2005 was in the Northern Region followed by the Valley Region, with 22 and 25.3 intakes per 1,000 youth ages 10 to 21, respectively. The highest rate was in the Central Region, with 37.4 intakes per 1,000 youth.
These statistics, however, belie the true drivers of Virginia's juvenile crime problem. In the City of Richmond, for example, nearly 40 percent of the intake cases are for felony or misdemeanor crimes against persons, and other localities do not begin to approach the 8.9 percent of weapons/narcotics intake cases.
While the West Central Region led the state for the highest juvenile intakes from 2002-2004, the percentage of intakes in that region fell in 2005 to approximately 36 per 1,000, the equivalent of the Southwest, Southside and Central regions in the same year.
What Influences Juvenile Intakes?
A major influence on juvenile intakes is local justice system policy. Some police departments have very strong community policing programs. If an officer witnesses a juvenile committing a minor offense, the officer may counsel the youth involved, take the youth to their home and/or meet with the parents or guardians rather than formally arresting the youth. In other localities, the policy may be to take formal action on every alleged criminal activity. In localities where serious juvenile crime is prevalent, resources may not permit acting upon the most minor offenses.
What is the State's Role?
Juvenile intake services are provided through 32 state operated Court Service Units and three locally operated/partially state funded Court Service Units.
Data Definitions and Sources
Virginia Department of Juvenile Justice, Research and Evaluation Unit, by special request from the Juvenile Tracking System on 1/13/2005 and 3/28/2006.
Data for Fairfax City are included with Fairfax County.
Population data for calculating rates are from: Puzzanchera, C., Finnegan, T. and Kang, W. (2006). "Easy Access to Juvenile Populations" Online: www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/ezapop
Juvenile population in Virginia ranges from age 10 through age 21 (with 18 - 21 year olds included if they were under juvenile justice supervision prior to their 18th birthdays. Population data were readily available for age 10 - 20. Population estimates for FY05 are not yet available. Consequently, 2004 estimates are used for calculating FY05 rates.