Youth Programs and

Contemporary Issues in Policing

William L. Mizner
Chief of Police
Norfolk, Nebraska

Introduction
Maintaining Awareness
Youth Programs
Need
Types

Contemporary Issues in Law

Enforcement

Understanding Current
Problems
Must prioritize use of limited resources
Must be responsive to issues of
concern in community
Must help educate the community on
issues

Keeping Current
Publications
Association Publications
Police Chief magazine
Sheriff magazine

Trade Journals

FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin

Law and Order
Law Enforcement News
Law Enforcement Technology

Keeping Current
Internet Sources
IACP Net
Department of Justice
Regional Community Policing Training
Institute

Assessing the Future

Plan ahead
Tactical Planning
Immediate or short-term

Strategic Planning
Long-range

Sources
Police Futurists International
World Future Society
Crime and Criminal Justice in the 21st Century

Reviewing Programs
Determine the goals
Determine necessary resources
Manpower
Support
Examine recurring costs

Evaluate reviews and studies

Assess if right for your agency and
community

Need for Youth Programs

Significant amount of crime is committed
by youth
1997 Uniform Crime Report juvenile stats

Third straight decrease in juvenile crime

First decrease in seven years in drug arrests
Violent crime arrests still 49% above 1988 rate
Total crime arrests still 35% above 1988 rate
Drug arrests still 125% above 1988 rate

Need for Youth Programs

Most gang members are juveniles
There is a chance behavior can be
changed before the individual reaches
adulthood

Types of Youth Programs

D.A.R.E.
Possibly the most popular youth program
25,000 trained officers in 44 countries
Estimated 80% of U.S. classrooms

$700 - 750 million spent annually

Studies vary on programs effectiveness
1997 University of Maryland report to Congress
identified D.A.R.E. as one of the programs
which dont work

Types of Youth Programs

School Resource Officer Program
Officer is an educator, counselor and law
enforcer
Major goal is to build rapport between law
enforcement and youth

Types of Youth Programs

G.R.E.A.T.
2200 officers from more than 900 agencies
9-week middle school curriculum
4-week fifth or sixth grade curriculum
Summer project focusing on recreational
activities, outings and community service
projects
Initial reviews indicate positive impact

Types of Youth Programs

Law Enforcement Explorers Post
Joint effort between agency and Boy
Scouts

Police Athletic League

Serves 1.5 million boys and girls in 1600
locations
Emphasizes sports and activities as a
crime prevention effort

Types of Youth Programs

Mentoring Programs
Best-known mentoring organization is Big
Brothers / Big Sisters of America
National operating standards provide a level of
uniformity in recruitment, screening, training,
matching, and supervision of adult volunteers
and youth
The mentor and youth meet for about four hours,
two to four times a month, for at least a year

Types of Youth Programs

1995 18-month study of eight local BB/BS
programs found mentored youth were:

46% less-likely to initiate drug use

27% less-likely to initiate alcohol use
Almost 1/3 less-likely to hit someone
Skipped half as many school days
Showed modest gains in grade point averages
Had improved relationships w/ parents & peers

Ten Model Programs

Center for the Study and Prevention of
Violence
University of Colorado, Boulder
Institute of Behavioral Sciences
Campus Box 442
Boulder, CO 80309-0442
www.colorado.edu/cspv

Big Brothers/Big Sisters of

America
Targets youth from single parent homes
Volunteers interact regularly with youth
in a one-to-one relationship
$1000 per year average cost of making
and supporting a relationship

Bullying Prevention Program

Targets elementary, middle and junior
high students
Program outcomes
Substantial reduction of bullying
Significant reduction in antisocial behavior
Significant improvement in class social
climate
More positive attitude toward school

Midwestern Prevention Project

Comprehensive, community-based, multifaceted program for adolescent drug
abuse prevention
Targets early adolescent through late
adolescent youth
Outcomes
Up to 40% reduction in daily smoking
Similar reductions in marijuana use

Midwestern Prevention Project

Smaller reductions in alcohol use through
12th grade
Increased parent/child communication
about drug use

$175,000 minimal cost over a 3-year

period

Quantum Opportunities Program

Serves disadvantaged adolescents by
providing education, service, and
development activities, as well as
financial incentives, over a 4-year period
from 9th to 12th grade
Outcomes
21% more likely to graduate from high school
26% more likely to receive honor or award

Quantum Opportunities Program

26% more likely to attend post-secondary
schools
14% less likely to become teen parents

$2,650 per participant per year

Life Skills Training

3-year intervention designed to prevent
or reduce gateway drug use
Outcomes
50% to 70% reduction in tobacco, alcohol
and marijuana use
25% reduction in pack-a-day smoking
Decreased use of inhalants and narcotics

$7 per student per year

Multisystemic Therapy
Intensive family- and community-based
treatment that addresses the multiple
determinants of serious antisocial
behavior in juvenile offenders
Targets chronic, violent or substanceabusing offenders ages 12 to 17 at high
risk of out-of-house placement, and the
offenders families

Multisystemic Therapy
Outcomes
25-70% reduction in long-term rates of re-arrest
47%-64% reduction in out-of-home placements
Extensive improvements in family functioning
Decreased mental health problems for serious
offenders

$4500 per youth

Prenatal and Infancy Home

Visitation by Nurses
Intensive and comprehensive home visits by
nurses during a womans pregnancy and the
first 2 years after the birth of the first child
Targets low-income, at-risk pregnant women
bearing their first child
Outcomes
79% fewer reports of child abuse or neglect
31% fewer subsequent births

Prenatal and Infancy Home

Visitation by Nurses
30 months less receipt of Aid to Families of
Dependent Children
44% fewer maternal alcohol or drug problems
69% fewer maternal arrests
56% fewer arrests of the children
60% fewer reports of children running away
56% fewer days of alcohol use by children

$2800 per family per year

Multidimensional Treatment
Foster Care
Cost-effective alternative to group or
residential treatment, incarceration, and
hospitalization for adolescents with
chronic antisocial behavior, emotional
disturbance, and delinquency
Outcomes
60% fewer days incarcerated
Significantly fewer subsequent arrests

Multidimensional Treatment
Foster Care
Ran away from programs 3 times less
often
Significantly less hard drug use
Quicker community placement from more
restrictive settings (hospitals, detention)

$2691 average cost per youth per

month; average length of stay is 7
months

Functional Family Therapy

Outcome-driven prevention/intervention
program for youth demonstrating the
entire range of maladaptive, acting out
behaviors and related syndromes.
Target youth age 11-18
Outcomes
Effectively treating adolescents with a
variety of disorders

Functional Family Therapy

Reduces access and penetration of other
social services by these adolescents
Reduces further incidents of the problem
Reduces penetration of the adult criminal
system by the adolescents
Prevents younger children in family from
penetrating the system of care

$1350 to $3750 for 12 home visits

PATHS Promoting Alternative

Comprehensive program promoting
emotional and social competencies and
reducing aggression and behavior problems
Targets elementary school children
Outcomes
Improved self-control
Increased ability to tolerate frustration
Use of more effective conflict-resolution plans

PATHS Promoting Alternative

Decreased conduct problems

$15 per student per year for a 3-year

period

Promising Programs
Fast Track
Comprehensive and long-term prevention
program that aims to prevent chronic and
severe conduct problems for high-risk kids.
Strives to increase communication between
child, home and school, enhance childs social,
cognitive and problem-solving skills, improve
peer relationships, and ultimately decrease
disruptive behavior in the home and at school

Promising Programs
Perry Preschool Program
Provides high-quality childhood education to
disadvantaged children to improve their later
school and life performances

Parent Child Development Center

Designed to foster relationships between
parents and children
Provides multi-dimensional help to mothers
become more effective in child-rearing

Promising Programs
Syracuse Family Development Research
Program
Bolsters child and family functioning and
affective, interpersonal relationships through
home visitations, parent training and
individualized daycare.

YALE Child Welfare Project

Offers team-based, personalized family
support to help disadvantaged parents

Promising Programs
Intensive Protective Supervision Project
Removes juvenile offenders from criminal
justice institutions and provides them with more
proactive and extensive community supervision

Preventive Treatment Program

Designed to prevent antisocial behavior of boys
who display early, problem behavior by
providing training to parents and child to
decrease delinquency and substance abuse

Promising Programs
Project PATHE
Comprehensive program implemented in
secondary schools that reduces school disorder
and improves the school environment.

School Transitional Environmental Program

Seeks to reduce complexity of school
environments, increase peer and teacher
support, and decrease student vulnerability to
academic and emotional difficulties

Critical Issues in Law Enforcement

Year 2000 Preparation
Internal
Computers
Contingencies
Personnel

External
Relationships
Disruptions?
Terrorism?

Critical Issues in Law Enforcement

Ethics in Law Enforcement
Growing Immigrant Populations
Drugs
War on drugs
Legalization issue

Police/Citizen Partnerships
Community policing
Citizen advisory boards