Bill calls for study of juvenile detention

Wednesday, March 14, 2001 | 11:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A bill calling for a study to determine whether there is a disproportionate share of minorities in the juvenile detention system gained support from a parade of witnesses who went before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday.

Kirby Burgess, director of Family and Youth Services in Clark County, said, on any day, two-thirds of those in the juvenile detention center are minorities. The same holds true for the Spring Mountain Youth Camp in Southern Nevada.

Burgess called Senate Bill 232 a "step in the right direction" and said it would help create community-based programs to divert youngsters from criminal behavior.

The bill requires juvenile courts, juvenile probation departments, district attorneys and law enforcement agencies to gather statistics and assess whether children of racial or ethnic minorities are disproportionately taken into custody, detained or referred to the juvenile justice system.

The state Division of Child and Family Services is to develop the standards for the report; it is also required to make recommendations on how to eliminate racial profiling.

The bill is aimed at "breaking the cycle of crime" by implementing programs for children, Sen. Maurice Washington, R-Sparks, said.

It came out of a legislative study committee on juvenile crime headed by Sen. Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas. It was endorsed by the League of Women Voters, the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.

It also was supported by police agencies, although many worried about the cost. Lt. Stan Olsen of the Metro Police Department said additional staff members would have to be hired. He said it could also tie up the officer on the street investigating a crime. If the suspect was described as black, the investigator would have to keep a running track of all black suspects he questioned.

Gemma Green Waldron of the Washoe County District Attorney's Office said her office doesn't collect statistics on the racial makeup of those it prosecutes.

"We're in the middle," she told the committee, urging it to delete a section that mandates that district attorneys participate in the study.

"You're the ones who prosecute," Sen. Mark James, R-Las Vegas, chairman of the committee, shot back.

But, Waldron replied, "It is not based on race."

The cases, she said, are presented to her office by juvenile officials.

James referred this and three other bills relating to juveniles to a subcommittee headed by Washington.