Reports Slams Multnomah Juvenile Justice System

Multnomah County Juvenile Justice Department Failing Criminally-Involved Youth And Law-Abiding Citizens
By Crime Victims United,

LAKE OSWEGO, OR – Crime Victims United Juvenile Justice Policy Advisor Ken Chapman said today, “The data are clear and the conclusion inescapable: Multnomah County’s low-accountability approach to juvenile crime has reduced juvenile criminal referrals (arrests) less than half as much as the state as a whole during the last 8 years.” Crime Victims United today released the fourth in a series of reports detailing the failures of Multnomah County’s Office of Juvenile Services.

Key findings of the report include:

– With approximately 18% of the state’s youth population, Multnomah County has been responsible for 40% of the state’s juvenile robbery and homicide referrals

– No other county in the state so consistently has disproportionate percentages of robbery and homicide referrals

– Juvenile criminal referrals have decreased less than half as much as the state as a whole – 9% versus 22%

“In the face of three Crime Victims United reports containing hard data from the State of Oregon Juvenile Justice Information System, Multnomah County’s response has been to avoid dealing with the facts of poor performance compared to the rest of the state,” CVU’s Mr. Chapman concluded.

The new report is available at:

http://www.crimevictimsunited.org/issues/juvenilejustice/multcoaddendum3.pdf

Previous reports are available at:

http://www.crimevictimsunited.org/issues/juvenilejustice/multcoreport.pdf

http://www.crimevictimsunited.org/issues/juvenilejustice/multcoaddendum.pdf

http://www.crimevictimsunited.org/issues/juvenilejustice/multcoaddendum2.pdf