Ordinance to reduce youth incarceration passes unanimously
5th September 2017 · 0 Comments
By Fritz Esker
Contributing Writer
On August 24, the New Orleans City Council unanimously passed the Policing Alternatives for Youth (PAY) ordinance in an effort to reduce the number of children placed in the juvenile justice system for minor offenses.
“When kids enter the juvenile justice system, that contact alone can increase the chance of future delinquency and eventual contact with the adult justice system,” said Rachel Gassert, policy director for the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, a non-profit law office that defends youths in Louisiana’s juvenile justice system.
A press release from the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights said three out of every four children arrested in New Orleans are charged with crimes that do not involve violence or a gun. Under the new ordinance, eleven of the least serious offenses, including marijuana possession, shoplifting small items, disturbing the peace, misdemeanor obstruction of justice, minor traffic violations and getting into a fight at school, can be eligible for an official warning instead of a custodial arrest. Arrests for these kinds of crimes make up about 30 percent of juvenile arrests annually.
“Even if a child is never charged with or prosecuted for a crime, as often happens, a single arrest can significantly derail their life,” said the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights in a press release.
The new ordinance will also hopefully address a racial disparity in juvenile arrests. Ninety-five percent of children arrested in New Orleans last year were African-American, suggesting that African-American children are criminalized for certain behaviors, but white children do not receive the same treatment.
Gassert said that the behaviors targeted by the ordinance can technically be classified as crimes, but are really just part of the boundary-testing and risk-taking behaviors in which most youths of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds engage.
The PAY ordinance is a result of an almost three-year collaborative process that included the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights, District A Councilmember Susan Guidry, District B Councilmember Latoya Cantrell, Councilmember-At-Large Jason Williams, the New Orleans Police Department and the Mayor’s Office.
After the vote, Guidry expressed enthusiasm over the result.
“This is one of the most exciting moments of my career to bring this work before the council today,” said Guidry. “We’re calling this the PAY ordinance because we believe it will pay out big benefits to our families and community. We already have this system in place for our adults, but for whatever reason, there’s nothing in place for the most vulnerable members of our community, our children.”
Aside from keeping local youths from getting into more trouble, Gassert said the new ordinance will save time for law enforcement officials as well. If a child is arrested for getting into a fight at school, the officer has to handcuff the kid, then transport him/her to a detention center. The end result is probation – some of the time. Other times, the judge won’t even call for probation. It all adds up to time police officers are spending on cases like these that they could be using to prevent more serious crimes or arrest more serious offenders.
“Everyone in the (justice) system recognizes that these are minor behaviors,” Gassert said.
Gassert’s opinion is shared by the NOPD.
“The NOPD believes that the Policing Alternatives for Youth program represents a positive step towards reducing over-incarceration, giving officers greater flexibility in incidents regarding juveniles,” said Beau Tidwell, communications director for the NOPD. “Summonses and warnings are typically available as options when dealing with adult offenders and with this program – we give our officers another tool to address incidents short of arrest and incarceration.”
Gassert emphasized that the ordinance is not designed to be soft on teenage offenders who are guilty of serious bodily harm or firearm-related offenses.
“We’re not looking at kids whose characteristics suggest that they’re going down a dangerous path,” Gassert said.
Similar initiatives have achieved success in cities as diverse as Little Rock, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, and Minneapolis.
A report recently published by The National League of Cities (nlc.org) stated, “City leaders who hold youth accountable for crime in developmentally appropriate ways stand to make better use of scarce resources and improve youth outcomes, which will likely improve long-term public safety as well.”
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu expressed his enthusiasm for the new ordinance.
“My administration is in full support of the Policing Alternative for Youth Ordinance. We believe that it is in-line with our stated objective to allow NOPD to focus on violent crimes and criminals that endanger the public,” Landrieu said.
This article originally published in the September 4, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
