The District needs to be more careful in placing violent youths back into the community to avoid situations where “some things fall through the cracks,” according to Attorney General Peter Nickles.
Nickles, appearing on NewsChannel 8, said he has completed a review of the city’s juvenile justice system that he’ll present to Mayor Adrian Fenty shortly.
Nickles told The Washington Examiner later Monday that he could not release his report until he’d briefed the mayor and would not provide additional details.
But on NewsChannel 8, Nickles said the city needs to be more thorough in its decisions to place young offenders in community-based programs as opposed to locking them up. He added that the District needs to strengthen the way social workers monitor young offenders once they are placed in the community,
“We need to look more carefully at a number of factors that I don’t believe are presently being reviewed,” Nickles said.
A rash of high-profile crimes committed this year by District juveniles has led to questions about whether the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, which is tasked with supervising young offenders, is up to the job.
“If we’re going to use community-based services, someone has to sit on top of those youth, or frankly this reform movement will collapse politically,” said Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells at a recent hearing.
Nickles also said the city’s confidentiality laws needed changing. He said the police investigation into the unrest at New Beginnings Youth Development Center earlier this month — in which a supervisor had his jaw broken by a youth — was stymied in part because officers weren’t allowed to watch surveillance tapes until they obtained a court order.
Recent troubles
» A juvenile offender housed at the New Beginnings detention center broke the jaw of supervisor in a riot more than a week ago.
» Three youths under Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services supervision were charged in the murder of D.C. principal Brian Betts.
» And at least six other youths under the supervision of DYRS have been charged with murder since the beginning of the year.
Nickles said he’s troubled by what he called “a surge in youth violence” and that the Fenty administration is committed to “[restoring] the confidence of the public.” John Walker, whose union represents juvenile-agency caseworkers, said Fenty has turned a deaf ear to his members’ concerns for several years and his administration is just posturing because it is an election year.
Fenty is locked in a tight race with D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray.
“Whatever recommendations they come out with, it’s way past due,” Walker said.
Bill Myers contributed to this report.
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Recent troubles
» A juvenile offender housed at the New Beginnings detention center broke the jaw of supervisor in a riot more than a week ago.
» Three youths under Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services supervision were charged in the murder of D.C. principal Brian Betts.
» And at least six other youths under the supervision of DYRS have been charged with murder since the beginning of the year.
