---
title: "Responding Against Delinquency and Recidivism"
type: "pdf"
year: "1998"
canonical: "/projects/1296"
---

# The City of West Palm Beach Police Department and the Florida  Department of Juvenile Justice 

![img-0.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/98-80/img-0.jpeg)

Responding Against Delinquency And Recidivism
![img-1.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/98-80/img-1.jpeg)

1998
Chief Ric L. Bradshaw

# Table of Contents

- [The City of West Palm Beach Police Department and the Florida  Department of Juvenile Justice](#the-city-of-west-palm-beach-police-department-and-the-florida-department-of-juvenile-justice)
- [Project Abstract](#project-abstract)
- [Detailed Project Document Responding Against Delinquency And Recidivism West Palm Beach Police Department](#detailed-project-document-responding-against-delinquency-and-recidivism-west-palm-beach-police-department)
  - [Scanning](#scanning)
- [Analysis and Response](#analysis-and-response)
- [Assessment](#assessment)

# Project Abstract 

Responding Against Delinquency And Recidivism (R.A.D.A.R.)

Serious and violent juvenile crime has increased dramatically over the last few years, straining America's juvenile justice system. Unfortunately, the already stressed juvenile justice system lacks additional fiscal and programmatic resources to identify and intervene effectively with serious, violent, and chronic offenders.

RADAR was created as a collaborative partnership between the City of West Palm Beach Police Department and the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice to strengthen probation as a tool for preventing and suppressing youth violence. Developed as a pilot program within the West Palm Beach Weed and Seed Site in April of 1997, this program has evolved far beyond that of similar concepts, to a uniquely innovative comprehensive approach to the juvenile problem which transcends communities throughout the nation.

At the core of the RADAR Program is the surveillance of the juvenile, ensuring that the conditions of their probation are being adhered to. The Community Restoration Program, the accountability element, provides for an immediate sanction for violations, requiring the juvenile to perform work in the community. The slated acquisition of the Mobile Juvenile Diversion Center, the counseling element, will provide a multitude of media to influence and divert the youth from committing further offenses.

Following a presentation and review by the State of Florida Department of Juvenile Justice in Tallahassee, Secretary Calvin Ross, has endorsed the RADAR Program as the model for the State of Florida. Since the citywide implementation of the RADAR Program in October of 1997, this comprehensive juvenile program has received statewide recognition, an accomplishment worth noting. The RADAR Program is slated for replication in the 14 counties surrounding and including Tallahassee, Broward County, St. Petersburg, and Delray Beach. This program is constantly evolving and being refined to not only serve as a model for the State of Florida, but for replication nationwide.

# Detailed Project Document Responding Against Delinquency And Recidivism West Palm Beach Police Department 

## Scanning

The perception that violence is on the rise is supported by data showing a sharp increase in violent crime among juveniles since the mid-1980's. Perhaps the most disturbing trend in those subjects committing murder is the juvenile participation. This trend is being observed, not only in Florida, but across the country. Even though arrests for murder overall have declined from 1989 to 1994, juvenile arrests for murder increased by $33 \%$. While total arrests for murder in Florida increased more than $27 \%$ over the last 20 years and adult arrests went up by more than $11 \%$, juvenile arrests for this offense rose $358 \%$ (Crime in Florida, FDLE 1995).

Between 1985 and 1992, the rate of homicide by young people, the number they committed with guns, and the arrest rate of non-white juveniles for drug offenses have all more than doubled \{OJP 6/96\}. More than half of all cases adjudicated for a delinquency offense received probation as the most severe disposition (OJJDP 3/96).

Consequently, probation officers caseloads have grown proportionately. Currently within Palm Beach County, there are approximately 1,300 juveniles on probation, 126 of whom reside in the City of West Palm Beach. The arrest rate for juveniles in the City of West Palm Beach has risen dramatically in recent years. Within the City of West Palm Beach the ratio of juvenile probationers to Case Managers is 35:1. Identified as problems juvenile probation officers face are a lack of resources, not enough staff, and too many cases. Unfortunately, the already stressed juvenile justice system lacks additional fiscal and programmatic resources to identify and intervene effectively with serious, violent, and chronic offenders. As a result, their greatest sources of frustration are the inability to impact the lives of the youth, the attitudes of probationers and their families, and the difficulties in identifying successes. Juvenile Probation Officers needed a tool to effectively manage serious, violent, and chronic juvenile offenders, thereby reducing the recidivism rate and impacting juvenile crime overall.
![img-2.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/98-80/img-2.jpeg)

The West Palm Beach Police Officers, not unlike other officers around the country, were unaware of the probation status of juvenile offenders within their beats. Elements such as who was on probation, the conditions and length of that probation, and warrant status were unknowns. The targeted juvenile population within the City of West Palm Beach exceeds 13,147, all of whom are susceptible to the possibility of becoming involved in varying degrees of delinquency (1995 Special Census, 5-18 yrs).

RADAR was created as a collaborative partnership between the City of West Palm Beach Police Department and the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice to strengthen probation as a tool for preventing and suppressing youth violence. The program would bring new credibility to probation and the enforcement of it's terms. The concept for the RADAR program was derived from Boston's police-probation partnership, 'Operation Nightlight', which provided that a juvenile probation officer be partnered with a police officer to ensure juvenile probationers are abiding by the conditions set-forth in their probation. What has evolved out of this concept is not the replication of the Boston Program, but a uniquely innovative comprehensive program which is the basis for this submission.

# Analysis and Response 

The concept was clearly defined, to partner a Case Manager with a Police Officer in the field, but the coordination of resources and methodology were not. Numerous meetings, or brainstorming sessions, between the Department of Juvenile Justice and police personnel, resulted in a consensus for the most efficient utilization of these grouped resources. This animal, the first of it's kind in the State of Florida, was to become a reality in the form of a Pilot Program in the city's Weed and Seed Site. Initially, a liaison was identified from each department to coordinate the scheduling and logging of program specific data.
![img-3.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/98-80/img-3.jpeg)

The primary focus of the program was to target high risk probationers in the Weed and Seed Area utilizing on-duty officers and off-duty compensated Case Managers. An initial training session was held which addressed such issues as the roles, powers, and responsibilities of each departments personnel as it related to the RADAR Program. A Profile Sheet was developed on each probationer; a written document defining the probationer's personal information, inclusive of the school attending and current probation status. The purpose of these sheets allowed police personnel and any other Case Manager other than the primary Case Manager the ability to review the probationers sheet prior to making a contact in the field. A 'Police-Probation Contact Log' was developed as a means of documenting contacts with the juvenile, the family, and/or non-probationer contacts. This provided a record for the tracking of the impact RADAR has on the individual probationers recidivism rate.

The pilot program kicked-off on April 21,1997 in the Weed and Seed Area with an initial sweep for active administrative warrants. Ten juveniles were picked up on warrants the first night, some warrants of which were several years old. This was the first time Case Managers had left their office and responded to juvenile's homes to enforce such orders. For the next five months RADAR Teams were active in the Weed and Seed area, twice a week for approximately three hours per night.

On October 1, 1997 the City of West Palm Beach Police Department received grant funding for citywide implementation. A core group of twelve police officers and the six existing Case Managers were identified and cross-trained at a meeting. Two RADAR teams would ride four hours per night, three times per week citywide. The RADAR teams would initially meet at police headquarters and enter the probationers name on the Contact Log, ensuring that if any warrants exist are confirmed by telephone prior to the teams starting their shift. The Contact Log would allow the officer a means to list the juveniles in an order contingent upon their individual curfew and proximity to one another within the city. This method promotes the most efficient use of the time allotted, allowing for the ability to make as many contacts as possible on a given shift.

The grant allowed the police department the ability to pay the officers and Case Managers overtime to work in the RADAR Program, as well as purchase two ruggedized laptops for use in the field. The original paper Profile Sheet evolved into a computer generated sheet with embedded digitized photographs of each probationer, with all pertinent data. The juveniles data would now be available to the RADAR team in the field at the touch of a button, the first of it's kind in the nation.
![img-4.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/98-80/img-4.jpeg)

# Assessment 

![img-5.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/98-80/img-5.jpeg)

As the RADAR Program has progressed it has become apparent that their lacked a uniformity and consistency in the Case Managers individual criteria for violating juveniles who had not adhered to their probation. A preliminary study revealed that an unacceptable fifty-six percent of juvenile probationers in the RADAR Program since October 1997 were compliant with the conditions of their probation. The RADAR Program required a necessary enhancement to provide a meaningful uniform immediate sanction for violations, thereby impacting the compliance rate dramatically.

The Community Restoration Program provides a necessary enhancement to the RADAR Program, providing a meaningful sanction for curfew violations. Offenders who are repeatedly non-compliant with the curfew element of their community control will be directed to participate in a Community Restoration Project on a Saturday for each curfew violation. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and West Palm Beach Police Department collaborative effort and implementation of this necessary supplement to the RADAR Program reinforces to the youth that there are consequences for their actions, a means of stressing accountability, thereby enhancing RADAR'S credibility. Restoration Sites will be chosen based on need. Assistance in the form of lot clearing, beautification, and painting will be offered to properties and locations in disrepair. The primary focus of attention will be in the Weed and Seed target area on properties of the elderly or infirm. Intrinsic to the Community Restoration Program are teamwork, discipline, skills development, self-esteem, and a personal sense of reward. Each slated Restoration Site project will be accomplished within a given day, allowing the individual participant the ability to begin and finish the project. The tangible results of the juveniles participation on a site will evoke a feeling of self-worth. During surveillance, if a juvenile is found to be in violation of their curfew, a Curfew Violation will be issued to the parent/guardian directing the probationer to a given site on a given Saturday. Ten juveniles, two Case Managers, and a police officer will work on a project site. The projects will begin at 9:00am and end at 1:00pm, with the managers and officers scheduled one hour prior and one hour after each project. Each additional curfew violation will result in an additional day participating in the RADAR Community Restoration Program, thereby discouraging further non-compliance.

Additionally, probationers who were non-compliant with the community service hours they were slated to perform were instructed to respond to the Community Restoration
![img-6.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/98-80/img-6.jpeg)

Sites to satisfy their hours.

Currently, over 110 juvenile Profile Sheets are accessible in both laptops to the RADAR Teams. Prior and subsequent to the contact with the juvenile, the RADAR Team can access a photo of the subject and make any necessary updates to the file. This ensures that the files are current and accurate. If a juvenile is placed on probation and added to the RADAR Program, the officer would take a digital photograph in the field which would later be downloaded into the laptop with all necessary information. Contingent upon a budget modification to the existing grant, will be the purchase of a computer with CD Writing capabilities to copy the Profile Sheets to CD's for distribution on a monthly basis to all divisions within the police department, the school board police, the truancy center, and the Sheriffs Office.

Contacts at the juvenile's residence primarily pertain to the youth's adherence to the conditions of their probation. Curfew is the most commonly used means of monitoring probationers within the city. The Case Manager and Police Officer contact the youth and family members, not only ensuring that the youth is at home, but also making inquiries to the parent's as to the juvenile's behavior in the home and community. It is not untypical for the RADAR Team to interact with all family members within a household in a casual relaxed atmosphere. Obviously the interaction, whether formal or informal, is entirely dependant on the probationers adherence to the probation terms.

Since the citywide inception of the RADAR Program (October 1,1997 - March 31,1998), the teams have made 1,017 Attempts to Contact, 572 Actual Probationer Contacts, and 703 Family Contacts. The RADAR Program is now the norm within the city, with residents routinely commenting as the teams arrive in front of a residence, calling the team by name and knowledgeable of why the team is there. The goal of this program, above and beyond monitoring the probationer, is to have a positive deterrent influence on the majority of the juveniles who are not in the Juvenile Justice System. This will be the direct result of the RADAR Program's ever-presence in the community, demonstrating to all youth that the probation and police are working together and are interested in their activities and whereabouts.
![img-7.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/98-80/img-7.jpeg)

The Mobile Juvenile Diversion Center is planned as an enhancement to the existing RADAR program within our city. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice has committed to make this necessary enhancement a reality. The high visibility unit would travel throughout the city, contacting both probationer and non-probationer juveniles maintaining the consistency currently in place ( 1 case manager/1 police officer 20 hours per week). This unit, by design, would provide an environment for the counseling of juvenile offenders. The unit is equipped with sofas and a drop-leaf table which will be utilized as a location to provide the youth and their parents with onboard counseling and materials. The counseling will consist of exposing the juvenile to a multitude of crime prevention media which would be consistent with the offense(s) which resulted in the juvenile being placed on probation. The videos and other materials will identify the offense and the far reaching negative impact it has had on the juvenile, victim, business, and/or society. The primary substance of the RADAR counseling will continue to be the reinforcement of the conditions of probation and the adherence to it's terms. Additional counseling will be provided covering a multitude of issues including, but not limited to, Gang Resistance Training, Bias Crime Prevention, and Alcohol and Drug Prevention. The unit will, remove the juvenile and parents from their residential element into a classroom like setting, thereby providing an exceptionalcounseling condition. The counseling of each probationer will be incorporated as a mandatory condition of the juvenile's probation. The RADAR Mobile Juvenile Diversion Center will be equipped with two Laptop computers each with a Profile Sheet Database of all the juveniles who are currently or have recently been on probation. Profile Sheets on each juvenile include an embedded photograph, personal data, criminal past, current probation status, and a date last updated. These Profile Sheets are the backbone of the RADAR Program. Existing digital cameras and laptops record realtime updates on the juveniles for the case managers and police officers. Updated photographs and probation data can be inputted into the database to ensure accuracy. The desktops in the Mobile Center provide a work space to accomplish these tasks. Through the use of these tools and the realtime accuracy of the data the juvenile probationers will be held accountable for the conditions of their probation at a level never before seen. The Mobile Juvenile Diversion Center can be utilized statewide to share the vision of the RADAR Program with other jurisdictions and through the units presence alone, throughout the state, spread the word to the public of this promising innovative program.

The acquisition of the Mobile Juvenile Diversion Center will bring the program full-circle. At the core of the program is the surveillance of the juvenile, ensuring the conditions of their probation are being adhered to; the Community Restoration Program, the accountability element, provides an immediate necessary sanction for violations, requiring the juvenile to perform work in the community; the Diversion Center, the counseling element, provides a multitude of media to influence and divert the youth from committing further offenses.
![img-8.jpeg](https://popdatasets.blob.core.windows.net/popdatasetmdimgs/98-80/img-8.jpeg)