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What are the roles of a juvenile police officer, a judge, and a probation officer in the juvenile system?
The juvenile police officer's role is to arrest those under the age of 18 who commit crimes, and according to an article in the Houston Chronicle, that officer must determine if the offender should be referred to the juvenile court or to an adult court. The juvenile police officer questions the alleged offender, fingerprints the offender, officially books the offender into the juvenile justice facilities and basically handles the case at the start of the process (Bolden-Barrett, 2011).
The statistics show that about 83% of court referrals for juveniles come from police officers; the remaining 17% come from parents, from schools, from the victims of crimes and from probation officers. Federal law requires that the arresting juvenile police officer can keep an under-18 offender in custody "…no more than six hours" -- and after that the offender must be assigned to a facility (Bolden-Barrett, p. 2). Other assignments for juvenile police officers include "non-criminal behaviors" such as skipping school, running away from home, and violating curfews.
In some cases, juvenile police officers are responsible to investigate when there are accusations that a juvenile has been abused or neglected by parents or guardians. In some cases, the juvenile police officer is charged with removing a juvenile from an abusive home, or even transporting a juvenile to a hospital if there are signs of physical abuse.
The role of the juvenile probation officer is very important;...
The duties for the probation officer include: a) screening cases to see if "informal" or "formal" processing is needed; b) making decisions about detention; c) preparing the paperwork reports for the judge; d) checking in with juvenile clients after they have been released from institutions; e) brokering services that may be available to juveniles post-arrest and detention; and f) interacting with schools and community-based programs for juveniles.
One important role of juvenile court judges is to provide oversight as regards county social services and probation agencies and their interactions with juvenile offenders. Of course the most important role of the juvenile judge is to decide the "…legal issues" and make rulings that are appropriate. For example, a judge decides "…whether a child should be removed from a parent," and whether the child should be "…returned to the family or placed permanently in another setting" (Edwards, 2009). The judge also determines if a child should be sent to a foster care environment. Moreover, the judge must make certain that "…the parties appearing before the court receive the legal and constitutional rights to which they are entitled"; and that includes the right to legal counsel, the right to a hearing, and the right to cross examine witnesses (Edwards)
How will these three professionals work together to ensure the best possible outcome for the ten-year-old?…
