Towards better policing: How to get youth involved

This is from a report by theYouth Justice Board of the Center for Court Innovation in New York. The board was established to give young people a voice in policies that affect their lives. Each year, a team of high school students from across New York City investigates a current juvenile justice or public safety issue, formulates policy recommendations, and works to promote and implement key ideas.

Youth Justice Board - Youth should advise officers newly assigned  to precincts about their communities. By  getting to know youth and other residents - the natural experts of any community - police officers can be better equipped to  address their concerns and issues.

Another way to strengthen police-youth  relations is to have them work together on  a community asset map. Asset maps identify institutions like schools, libraries,  precincts, as well as local leaders, as a  means of listing the community’s existing  resources in a single place. These maps can be used at first to understand a community, and eventually to build partnerships, as  they offer a clear picture of what the neighborhood has to offer.

In Rockaway, Queens, Neighborhood  Coordination Officers provide a pamphlet  developed by the NYPD Office of  Collaborative Policing that lists basic local  and city-wide service resources relevant to  the community. Building on this idea, youth  and officers could regularly work together to  create and update a community map to  provide new officers with an overview of  the area’s businesses, residents, and spaces.  In turn, by working alongside officers, local  youth would have the opportunity to learn  about the NYPD, policing practices, and most  importantly, the officers who serve their  community.

Neighborhood-based community organizations  develop local guides in consultation with youth  and the police department that explain the role  of police and the nuts and bolts of the criminal  justice system. These resources should include  relevant community resources that would help  local young people navigate the justice system.  By explaining the goals and missions of the  various players within the criminal justice  system, youth will have a better understanding  of how the pieces fit together, and what they  can do to have the most positive interactions  with police on the streets.  

Precincts work with local community  organizations to provide youth with the option  to call, email, or otherwise access youth-oriented  service providers for confidential support  throughout the youth’s involvement with the  justice system. Trained social workers have the  skills and experience to provide youth with the  emotional support they need in a way that other  adults in the justice system may not be able  to due to lack of time, training, resources, or a  conflict of interest.

To facilitate this process, police officers can  carry reference cards with a phone number or  email address at which a social worker can be  reached. It is important that it is clear to all  parties involved that the social worker does not  work for the police so that youth under that they are not at risk of incriminating  themselves.

These reference cards can also  include contact information for other services  that may benefit youth like housing,  education, and extracurricular opportunities. 

An automated text message with multiple  language options is a low-cost  solution that could help reduce confusion  and anxiety on the youth’s part while court  partners deliberate on how to proceed with  his or her case. Young people are much  more likely to check and respond to text  messages than to e-mails.  Once a youth enters a diversion program, the texts can serve as a progress report that  marks progress against clearly defined goals  and timeframes. For example, once a youth  completes the community service portion  of his or her diversion program mandate,  the case manager can send a text message  alerting the youth that he or she is 50 percent done. Just as important, the communication can help make the process more  transparent, educating and engaging the  youth at each step.

 
Diversion programs can be improved by  involving youth, particularly those who have  participated in the program or have prior justice system involvement, in meaningful  conversations on how the programs can be  more responsive and more engaging for  participants. According to Josh Laub, Department of Education’s Director of Youth  Development for District 88, it is important for  adults to “invite young people to the table to  claim their future.” Through this engagement, youth will also see that they are a part of the  ongoing conversation about how to improve  the criminal justice system.  Youth input can take many forms, from simple  surveys upon program completion to  structured conversations with program  planners to joining youth courts to guiding  other young people whose mistakes have led  to their arrest. For example, the Youth  Justice Board’s focus groups were a forum  where youth shared their ideas for diversion  programming, such as opportunities to learn  about their rights and responsibilities within  the justice system.