luly 28. 2004
Îlîe ^portlanh (©bserber
Page B3
L aw & J ustice
CRIME STOPPERS
Local Juvenile Crime Rises
(503) 823-HEIP 111 S.W. 2nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97204
Increase may signal effects of budget cuts
Juvenile crim e in M ultnom ah
C ounty rose slightly in 2003, ac
cording to the M ultnom ah C ounty
D epartm ent o f C om m unity Justice.
Despite the overall increase in crime,
recidivism am ong youth offenders
continued to drop.
A fter falling forfive straight years
- ap erio d in w h ich ^iv en ile crim inal
referrals declined nearly 30 percent
nile crim e corresponded to m ajor
cutbacks in state and county fund
ing for services aim ed at troubled
youth, including a 7 0 percent re
duction in state funding for ju v e
nile crim e prevention services in
- ju v en ile crim inal court referrals
r o * by 5 percent in 2003, t o m
3 ,8 |P to 4 ,0 6 5 .
W hifeju v etiilecrim e ro sein
2003, the num ber o f you!
c o m m ittin g th o se c rim es
continues to fall. L ast year,
a total o f 2 ,8 1 1 youth o f
fenders w ere referred by
police to ju v en ile co u rt for
crim inal charges, a decrease
o f 32 youth, 1.1 percent, from
the previous year. Thia data
M ultnom ah C ounty.
S ta te
S e n a to r
*Avel G o rd ly said ,
"W e sh o u ld all be
troubled by this
“W e’re putting o u r focus on the
highest risk kids. It’sw h ere we can
m ake the biggest difference in p ro
tecting the com m unity and it’s the
best use o f o u r increasingly lim ited
re so u rces.”
T h e rise in ju v en ile crim e was
driven In large part by a surge in
p ro p e rty o ff e n s e s . A u to th e ft
ju m p ed 47 percent in the last year
and burglary rose 19 percent. Theft
Bank Fraud Suspect at Large
T h e F B I , in c o o p e r a t io n w ith
C rim e S to p p e r s , n e e d s y o u r h e lp in
fin d in g a p e rs o n w a n te d fo r b an k
fra u d .
A y esh a E liz a b e th Jo h n so n , 22, w as
in d ic te d by a fed eral g ran d ju ry fo r
b ank fraud. T h e in d ictm en t stem s from
c rim e s c o m m itte d in W ash in g to n .
J o h n s o n o p e n e d b a n k a c c o u n ts ,
in f la te d th e b a la n c e w ith w o rth le s s
c h e c k s a n d m a d e o f f w ith th e m o n e y .
J o h n s o n is d e s c r ib e d as a b la c k
fe m a le , a b o u t 5 fe e t 8 in c h e s ta ll an d
a b o u t 16 5 p o u n d s . S h e h a s b la c k h a ir
a n d b ro w n e y e s .
T h e F B I s a y s th a t J o h n s o n h as
tie s to P o rtla n d a n d S a le m . W h ile
a g e n ts h a v e c h e c k e d p a s t a d d re s s e s
w ith o u t s u c c e s s , sh e is b e lie v e d to
b e in th e a re a .
Ayesha Elizabeth
Johnson
saw a 10 percen t increase.
Ju v e n ile p erso n o ffen ses
such as hom icide, sex offenses,
ro b b eries and assau lts de-
Since A pril, the Portland Fire is likely that these fires m ay be the
clinedSpercent in 2003, con
at m ore than $100,000.
B
ureau
has responded to tw enty w ork o f one person.
tinuing an overall trend in
Several o f p o rt-a-p o tty fires I
separate vehicle fires in east and
the country. In the last five
Police believe the targeted ve have occurred in the sam e geo
so u th east P o rtlan d , cau sed by hicles have been chosen at random
y e a rs , p e rs o n o ff e n s e s
graphic area and during the sam e
acts o f arson. B ased on inform a and set on fire during the night. The
co m m itted b y y o u th have
tim e frame. T hese m ight also be the |
tion gathered by investigators, it estim ated am ount o f dam age is set
d ro p p ed 36 percen t in the
w ork o f the sam e suspect.
co u n try .
H o w ev er, ju v e n ile h o
su g g ests th at a sm a lle r
m ic id e re fe rra ls d o u b led
num ber o f youth are re
o v e r the p ast y ear, from
O n S u n d a y , Ju n e 6, as a lo w
sponsible for a larger
w o u n d to h is head.
se v e n to 14, alth o u g h
rid e r sh o w w as lettin g out at the
proportion o f the crime.
D e te c tiv e s b e lie v e th is h o m ic id e
m o re th a n th re e q u a r
P ortland E xpo C enter, police w ere
M u ltn o m a h C o u n ty
___
fo llo w e d an a rg u m e n t b e tw e e n 13,h
ters o f th e se fo u rteen | c a lle d to a sh o o tin g n e a r N o rth
C hair D iane Linn said the county is uptick in the num bers. W e appear
S tr e e t a n d 18,h S tr e e t H is p a n ic g a n g
w e re ‘a tt e m p t e d ’ h o m ic id e s ,
V ic to ry B o u le v a rd an d N o rth
paying clo se attention to the rise in to be going backw ards at a time
m e m b e rs n e a r th e fr o n t d o o rs o f the
w h ich m ay be a re su lt o f th e re
E x p o R oad. W h en th ey a rriv ed ,
youth crim e referrals.
Alexx
w hen we see an increase in vio c e n t s u rg e in g a n g v io le n c e .
E x p o C e n te r.
th ey fo u n d 1 6 -y ear-o ld A lexx
“T he bad new s is that ju v en ile lence am ong young people. A re we
Alexander
D e te c tiv e s w an t to talk to an y o n e
W e a p o n s o ff e n s e s a ls o in
A le x a n d e r, su ffe rin g from g u n
crim e is up. T he good new s is that paying atten tio n ? A nd w hat are
w
ho
saw the arg u m e n t an d can id en tify
c re a se d 20 p ercen t last year. D rug
sh o t w o u n d s. H e w as rid in g in a c a r at the tim e o f
our ju v en ile probation departm ent w e, as a com m unity, prepared to do
p e o p le in v o lv e d o r w h o h as o th e r in fo rm atio n
o ffe n se s co n tin u ed to fall steep ly ,
th e sh o o tin g .
continues to drive dow n the num about it?”
ab o u t th is h o m ic id e . T h ey w o u ld a ls o like to see
d o w n 31 p e rc e n t fro m la st y ear.
A le x a n d e r w as tran sp o rted to a h o sp ital, w here
ber o f kids com m itting new crim es,”
p ic tu re s and v id e o s p e o p le m ay h av e from the
Joanne F uller, D irector o f the O v e ra ll, ju v e n ile d ru g o ffe n se s
he w as p ro n o u n c e d dead . He d ied o f a g u n sh o t
she said.
lo w -rid e r show .
D epartm ent o f C om m unity Justice, d ro p p e d 55 p e rc e n t sin ce 1998.
R esearchers could not sp ecu w hich ov ersees youth on proba
T o view the full report, visit
late w hy the increase occurred, but tion and o perates the co u n ty ’s ju
w w w .c o .m u ltn o m a h .o r .u s /d c j/
experts note that the spike in ju v e v e n ile d e te n tio n c e n te r, sa id ,
ev alu ation.shtm l#juvenilereports.
T he P ortland Police B ureau, in
quiet, W ednesday m orning. P o rt
I cooperation w ith C rim e Stoppers,
land w as in the m iddle o f a w inter
needs your help in solving a ho
s to rm a n d sn o w c o v e re d the I
micide.
gro u n d .
O n D ec. 31, 2 0 0 3 , at a b o u t
L ittle is know n about P rasad-I
Aaron King
6 :4 5 a .m ., an O re g o n ia n d e liv
services become available,” Waxman tal health treatm ent stay in d eten
K in g ’s activities leading up to his
was murdered
ery p erso n h eard the so u n d o f
said in a statem ent. “T his is deplor tion facilities longer than o th er d e
death, o r w hy he w as in this alley
on December
g u n fire in th e area o f N o rth
able. C ongress m ust ensure that our tainees. T hey average 23.4 day s in
at this particular tim e. D etectives
M ich ig an and N o rth S h av er. A
children have access to the mental detention, com pared w ith an av er
w ould like to h ear from anyone
few m in u tes later, she found 17- c a lle d p o lice.
health care that they need.”
age o f 17.2 day s for all detainees.
w ho has any inform ation about
y
ear-o ld A aron M ichael P rasad-
C ollins scheduled a hearing on
A ccording to detectives, Prasad- this hom icide or any body w ho may
O ne detention facility reported
(A P) — T housands o f m entally the issue w here W axm an w as testi
K ing ly in g in the alle y b etw een K ing su ffered m ultiple g u nshot
holding a 7 -y ear-o ld ch ild w ho w as
have seen Prasad-K ing, o r know s I
ill youth are unnecessarily put in fying along w ith experts on mental
N orth M ason and N o rth S h av er, w ounds and later died as a result. w hat he w as doing, the night be- (
aw aiting m ental health treatm ent,
juvenile detention centers to aw ait health law, youth behavior and ju
j u s t w e st o f M ic h ig a n . S h e T his occurred on a cold, otherw ise
w hile 117 facilities w ere holding
fore he w as killed.
m ental health treatm ent, a H ouse venile detention.
children 10 years old and younger.
com m ittee reported.
The report identified 698 ju v e
Crime Stoppers is offering a cash reward o f up to $1,000fo r information, reported to Crime Stoppers,
$100 m illion is spent y early to
C enters usually are not equipped nile detentionfacilities in the United
that
leads to an arrest in this case, or any unsolved felony crime, any you need not give your name. Call
house youths w aiting for health
to treat m ental illness, and in som e States, defined as correctional fa
Crime
Stoppers at 503-823-HELP.
services.
cases the youth« have n o t been cilities holding people age 21 and
charged w ith a crim e, said the re y ounger aw aiting charges or trial or
port by d ie D em ocratic sta ff o f the recently tried. S eventy-five percent
H ouse G overnm ent R eform C o m o f the facilities, o r 524, responded
Michael E. Harper, Sr.
mittee.
to the survey, including facilities
Agent
“T h e u se o f ju v e n ile detention from ev ery state but N ew H am p
facilitiesto h o u sey o u th Waiting for sh ire. T h e su rv e y c o v e re d six
Let Us S atisfy Your M usical N eed s’
Crime Stoppers Seek Public Help
Dispute at Car Show Turns Deadly
Public Help Sought for Unsolved Murder
Mentally 111 Teens Housed in Jail
Thousands of
kids await care in
detention centers
c o m m u n ity
mental health
services
it
w id e s p re a d
and a serious
national prob
lem ,” said the
—
_ 31-
__________________
----------------
months. Jan 1.2003,
to June 3 0 ,2 0 0 3 .
T h e re p o rt did
n o t attem pt to d e
te r m in e w h y so
m any you th s w ho
needed
m e n ta l
h e a lth tr e a tm e n t
w ere b eing p u t in
1
ju v e n ile detention
—
■
but said adm inistru
to rs blam ed the lack o f oth er treat
m ent facilities.
O ne d etention center adm inis
trator from L ou isian a w rote, “W e
ap p ear to be w arehousing youths
w ith m ental illnesses due to lack o f
m ental health services.”
A m ong the rep o rt’s findings:
In 33 states, m entally ill youths
w ere being held in detention cen
ters w ith no ch arg es against them.
O ver the six -m onth period o f the
study, n early 15,000 you th s spent
tim e in juvenile detention while they
waited for mental health help. Nearly
2,000 youths are in detention w ait
ing for m ental health services every
night, representing about 7 percent
o f all ju v en iles being held.
Y ouths w ho are w aiting for m en
In 33 states,
mentally ill youths
were being held in
detention centers
with no charges
against them.
A
report, w hich
fo u n d
that
tw o-thirds o f
juveniledeten-
tion facilities hold youths who are
w aitingfor mental health treatment.
“T his m isuse o f d etention ce n
ters as holding areas for m ental
health treatm ent is u nfair to youth,
underm ines th eir health, disrupts
the function o f detention centers
and is costly to so ciety .”
The report, w hich its authors
said w as the first national study o f
its kind, w as prepared at the re
quest o f C alifo rn ia Rep. H enry
W axm an, the H ouse G overnm ent
R eform C om m ittee's top D em ocrat,
and Sen. S usan C ollins, R -M aine,
chairw om an o f the Senate G o v ern
m ental A ffairs Com m ittee.
"Thousands o f youth w ho are in
need o f com m unity mental health
services are stuck in jail until these
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