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Vanishing Violence [projects.sfchronicle.com]

 

David Monroe pulled a gun from his pocket, said “f— it,” and fired five shots at a boy he had never seen before. At age 15, he became a killer.

The midday shooting on a Stockton street in 1997, while heinous, was hardly uncommon when it happened. In the mid-1990s, a juvenile was slain, on average, almost every day in California. Arrests of youths for violent felonies averaged about 60 a day statewide. Juvenile halls became so overcrowded, authorities were forced to release hundreds of young offenders early each month.

The idea of Monroe and teenagers like him — so-called “super-predators” who supposedly killed and robbed without remorse — terrified many. The belief that generations of children to come would be swept up in violence prompted a severe toughening of penalties for young criminals and a decades-long building boom of juvenile halls.

[For more on this story by Jill Tucker and Joaquin Palomino, go to https://projects.sfchronicle.c.../vanishing-violence/]

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I'm very disappointed in this article, because the research shows pretty clearly why juvenile crime has dropped so much across the country: a concerted, well-planned cross-sector prevention approach in 300 counties across the United States: The Annie E. Casey's Juvenile Alternatives Detention Initiative. The 25-year initiative began in the 1990s. San Francisco participated for a while. 

From their website:

Participating JDAI sites have reduced their average daily population in detention by 44 percent since launching their JDAI efforts.

JDAI sites have reduced the number of youth of color in detention by 40 percent, despite the fact that youth of color comprise an ever-increasing share of the U.S. youth population

JDAI is reducing detention in ways that protect or even enhance public safety.

In 2009, the New York Times lauded JDAI’s “astonishing” results.

Kudos to the SF Chronicle for pointing out the drop in juvenile crime, and the wasted money keeping jails open. But not adequately investigating the whys, and continuing the drumbeat of scaring people instead of taking a solutions-oriented approach is not only irresponsible, it's just plain bad reporting.  

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