Pubdate: Fri, 27 Oct 2000
Source: Savannah Morning News (GA)
Copyright: 2000 Savannah Morning News
Contact:  http://www.savannahnow.com/
Forum: http://chat.savannahnow.com:90/eshare/
Author: Dave Williams, Savannah Morning News

REPORT: STATE IS FILLING DETENTION BEDS WITH NON-VIOLENT YOUTHS

ATLANTA -- Non-violent offenders are a growing presence in Georgia's 
juvenile detention centers as serious crimes involving young people 
decrease, according to a new report ordered by the Department of Juvenile 
Justice.

Reflecting a nationwide trend, juvenile arrests for violent crimes in 
Georgia fell by 27 percent between 1995 and 1998, while arrests for serious 
property crimes decreased by 24 percent, Atlanta-based Applied Research 
Services Inc., reported in a study completed last month.

At the same time, arrests of Georgia young people for less serious crimes 
such as drug possession, disorderly conduct and so-called "status" crimes 
like loitering were on the rise, soaring by 200 percent between 1990 and 
1998, according to the report.

Many of those non-violent offenders are ending up in Georgia's regional 
youth detention centers, which house young offenders accused of crimes 
while their cases are pending, or in youth development campuses, which are 
for those who have been sentenced to state custody.

For example, while the percentage of RYDC admissions for youths charged 
with violent or serious property crimes fell between 1996 and last year, 
the percentage of offenders charged with less serious non-violent crimes 
increased.

The increase in non-violent offenders is driven in part by drug task forces 
organized by local law enforcement agencies and funded by federal grants, 
said Greg Maxey, the department's deputy commissioner.

"We're locking up a lot more less-serious offenders," Maxey told members of 
the Georgia Board of Juvenile Justice Thursday. "The war on drugs has 
dramatically widened the net."

Maxey said the higher concentration of non-violent offenders in custody is 
adding more girls to the system, which puts a financial strain on the 
department because it has to have some separate facilities and 
gender-specific programs for them.

He said the crackdown on drug offenses also has caused the number of young 
people in custody from rural Georgia and the state's urban areas outside of 
Atlanta to grow much faster than the number in detention from 
metro-Atlanta, where drug abuse has been a major problem for years.

"They're dealing with a new problem (outside of Atlanta), and they're 
dealing with it strongly," he said.

The report recommends that the department step up its 
alternatives-to-incarceration programs, which are geared toward non-violent 
youths.

"We need to reduce our reliance on secure, state-operated facilities ... 
and start looking at other options," said Juvenile Justice Commissioner 
Orlando Martinez. "They exist in community settings, which are less 
expensive because the kids don't need that level of security."

Martinez has stressed such "community corrections" as probation, group 
homes and foster care since he joined the department last year, and the 
department's last two annual budget requests have reflected that commitment.
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