MM> Quoter gone south again but I will figure it outm but in response to
 MM> the use of DC as an expeditious and legal arrest for solving a
 MM> criminal or unusual problem child is a long used trdition in many
 MM> venues.  then e get to "charge stacking" where each and every charge
 MM> is prosecuted to fullest.Of course, some civilians never really
 MM> appreciate any breaks they are given...
Most police officers tend to give the most breaks to juveniles for many 
reasons. First, if there is no need for a record, I would much rather a good 
set of parents handle the problem. This would be especially true for a first 
and non-violent offender. I'm certainly not talking about burglary, other 
serious offenses, or a juvenile delinquent with a record as long as your arm. 
You can usually tell when you take junior home and meet his or her parents 
whether you made a mistake or not. You are right, many of the breaks are not 
appreciated and result in further problems. In terms of breaks for adults, 
many of them backfire, as you are well aware, and they result in a complaint 
against the officer. The same thing happens fairly often when breaks are 
given to juveniles.
On many minor traffic violations, I may give the driver a choice between a 
ticket or a butt chewing. It is ironic that even a proper butt chewing many 
times results in an officer complaint, and it would have been better to write 
the ticket.  I guess this is just human nature. I certainly think it is 
wrong to give a butt chewing and the ticket, even though it may be warranted.
Regardless, I still have a tendency to try to let parents handle minor 
offenses with juveniles. I don't think it is a good thing for a juvenile 
to see and understand how the juvenile justice system works. Good parents 
can handle the situation much more appropriately. An inside look at the 
Juvenile Justice system indicates there is no punishment and you can get by 
with just about anything. I don't think that exposure to the hard core 
juveniles is a good thing either.
When I think about a minor traffic offense committed by a juvenile, I think 
about huge insurance increases. I really don't think this is fair. As a 
result, I would probably try to handle the matter with parents or a warning 
the first time. Most parents are struggling to pay those huge insurance 
premiums and will take the appropriate action, most of the time. The attitude 
of the juvenile will have a lot to do with my choice. I know that I will 
probably receive some flak for this comment, but it is really just common 
sense. A good attitude from the juvenile indicates remorse and a desire to 
comply, in my opinion. Without that good attitude, they will probably get the 
ticket and learn the hard way.
Tom Rightmer - A Victims' Rights Advocate
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