OR- Juvenile crime rate drops in Multnomah County, but number of violent crimes is up

9-4-2008 Oregon:

The number of juveniles picked up for crimes has dropped by 11 percent in Multnomah County, according to a report released this week comparing rates from 2006 to 2007.

The good news is that the number of 12 to 17 year olds written up by police for many crimes -- including assault, burglary and criminal mischief -- declined in amounts ranging from 8 to 16 percent.

The bad news is that youths arrested for some of the most serious crimes jumped -- homicide arrests by 167 percent, arson by 90 percent and robbery by 12 percent.

Dave Koch, the assistant director who oversees the Juvenile Services Division, noted that those most serious crimes still happened relatively infrequently, and so any increase in numbers is reflected by a large percentage increase. For example, nine more arsons accounted for nearly a doubling of the arson rate, according to the report.

Nonetheless, Koch said his staff will study why those crimes increased and look at ways to prevent them.

Koch said he was pleased to see overall rates decline, and said that no one agency could take the credit. He said parents, schools, recreation programs that keep kids engaged, treatment programs and his juvenile services staff all contributed.

District Attorney Michael Schrunk said he's "encouraged" by the report and "optimistic that we're going in the right direction." But Schrunk said it would be worth exploring whether police officers are not booking youth for less serious crimes because the police don't think the system is working.

Ken Chapman, the juvenile justice policy advisor for Crime Victims United, said he "certainly applauds any decrease in crime." But he had some reservations. Earlier this year he wrote a report criticizing the effectiveness of the county's juvenile justice system.

"When robbery and murder are up, people aren't particularly going to get too excited that other offenses are down," said Chapman, who is a former juvenile probation officer.

Chapman also asked why the county's report focused on the change in crime rates over one year, instead of looking at a longer period. Calculations by The Oregonian show that overall arrests of juveniles -- called referrals in the juvenile system -- have decreased 4 percent over five years. Homicide was up by 14 percent, arson more than tripled and robbery was up by 39 percent from 2002 to 2007.

But assaults dropped 10 percent, burglary 17 percent and car theft 23 percent over the same five-year period. For example, the number of assaults committed by juveniles declined from 593 in 2002 to 534 in 2007..

The county's report, entitled "Juvenile Crime Trends and Recidivism" -- also found that the percentage of young people who re-offended within a year hit its lowest rate since 2000. One in three youths in the juvenile system got into trouble again, according to the latest figures available.

Koch said that recidivism rate reflects his division's effort to focus on the highest risk youth. Koch said budget cuts of recent years means his department hasn't been able to provide as many services to youth who commit less serious crimes, such as shoplifting. ..News Source.. by Aimee Green, The Oregonian