Note
Issued also in French under title: Pouvoir discrétionnaire de la police à l'égard des jeunes contrevenants.
Cover title.
"Report to the Department of Justice Canada"--Cover.
"The analysis in this document is based, in part, on data from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics."--Cover.
Summary
"This report was commissioned by the Department of Justice in support of the
implementation and evaluation of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The research had two
main objectives: to provide a comprehensive description of the ways in which police in
Canada currently exercise their discretion with youth, and to identify and assess factors
which affect that exercise of discretion. Our intention was to provide information which
could be used in two ways:
as baseline data which can be compared in the future with similar data on the
exercise of police discretion under the YCJA, in order to conduct an evaluation of
the impact of the YCJA on police decision-making with youth, using a “pre-post”
quasi-experimental design; and to identify aspects of the policing environment and of police organizations, which
policymakers and police management could attempt to modify, in order to support
police officers in exercising their discretion in conformity with the intent and
specific provisions of the YCJA."--Page i.
Contents
I. Introduction -- II. A descriptive profile -- 1. Detection of youth crime -- 2. Offences that are almost always dealt with informally, referred to alternative measures, or charged -- 3. Informal action -- 4. Use of alternative measures -- 5. Discretion with offences against the administration of justice -- 6. Discretion with provincial/territorial offences -- 7. Procedures used to compel appearance in court -- 8. Summary -- III. Environmental factors affecting police discretion -- 1. The legal environment -- 2. Provincial policies and procedures -- 3. External resources -- 4. The nature of the community -- 5. Summary -- IV. Organizational factors affecting police discretion -- 1. Size -- 2. Centralization -- 3. Hierarchy -- 4. Specialization -- 5. Authority and responsibility for the decision to charge -- 6. Policing styles: reactive versus proactive policing -- 7. Support for community policing -- 8. Summary -- V. Situational factors affecting police discretion -- 1. Background -- 2. Seriousness of the crime -- 3. The role of the victim -- 4. Co-offenders and apparent gang-related crime -- 5. Under the influence of alcohol or drugs -- 6. Location and time of day -- 7. Prior record: contacts, alternative measures, charges, convictions -- 8. Demeanour -- 9. Age -- 10. Gender -- 11. Race -- 12. Peer group and gang affiliations -- 13. Home and school situations -- 14. Parental involvement -- 15. Summary --
VI. Conclusions --
1. The exercise of police discretion with youth --
2. Environmental factors influencing police discretion with youth --
3. Organizational factors influencing police discretion with youth --
5. Implications for implementation of the YCJA --
6. Implications for future research --
List of references --
Methodological appendix.