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As reforms continue to take effect in Maryland, lawmakers in Annapolis this week debated how to best support the state’s juvenile justice system.
The House Judiciary Committee held a more than three-hour briefing on juvenile justice on Wednesday.
Almost 90 minutes of the discussion focused on comments and questions for Clyde Boatwright, president of the state鈥檚 Fraternal Order of Police, who said the union represents more than 20,000 officers in Maryland.
Boatwright, who testified virtually, said one suggestion is 鈥渁 return to the mandatory detention requests for youth that are accused of violent crimes.鈥�
Children in need
Several lawmakers asked about the process when young people are arrested for an alleged crime.
Some lawmakers and law enforcement personnel have expressed concern about juveniles who are repeatedly arrested for the same crimes.
The legislature passed last year, which says children under 13 years of age 鈥渕ay not be charged with a crime,鈥� unless it鈥檚 a violent offense.
Boatwright said other reforms 鈥� such as , which requires a law enforcement officer who takes a child into custody to 鈥減rovide reasonable notice to a child鈥檚 parent, guardian, or custodian鈥� 鈥� have hampered law enforcement鈥檚 ability to investigate crimes. Some state鈥檚 attorneys have made similar complaints.
In some cases, youth may cycle through the juvenile justice system because they aren鈥檛 receiving mental health, counseling and other services.
There is a legal process in the state for , which allows members of law enforcement, various agencies and residents to fill out a form for young people and their families to receive a variety of services. The process, also known as 鈥淐INS,鈥� is overseen by the state Department of Juvenile Services (DJS).
Boatwright said officers don鈥檛 fill out the CINS forms because there鈥檚 no remedy when a young person continues to commit certain crimes.
鈥淭hink about the pressure to check every box to ensure you鈥檙e not the person in handcuffs at the end of every encounter,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur job is to enforce the law without bias or prejudice.鈥�
However, Del. Charlotte Crutchfield (D-Montgomery) said law enforcement agencies could do more to help young offenders. She said only one child supervision form has been filled out by a Montgomery County police officer in more than six years.
鈥淲hy is there so much resistance in helping young people by filing petitions, by doing anything that could help a child?鈥� she said.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it is a resistance,鈥� said Boatwright, who added it鈥檚 about educating officers to inform them the CINS option is available.
Crutchfield asked Boatwright, as leader of the FOP, if he would recommend that law enforcement officials use the referral as another option to help youths.
鈥淚t鈥檚 something I would like to look at. We want as many tools as we can have in the toolbox,鈥� Boatwright said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want juveniles locked up doing time. Juveniles that are accused of a crime need services. Adults that are accused of a crime need to be held accountable and need to be sent to jail. That鈥檚 a strong position.”
Del. Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore City), who chairs the Judiciary Committee, said the intake process managed by the Department of Juvenile Services needs to be assessed.
Juvenile services intake officers can determine whether a youth can go home with a family member or guardian, should receive additional services. They also can determine whether to close a case or file a petition to juvenile court.
鈥淭here needs to be another look at the tool that鈥檚 being used by the department to determine whether juveniles who are coming back again and again are triggering anything within the department to say, 鈥楬ey, wait a minute. This is somebody who has come back multiple times over a short period of time,鈥欌�� Clippinger said.
鈥楽hould have been detained鈥�
Boatwright said officers inform juvenile services to determine whether an arrestee is required to be on home detention, has any current or past offenses and whether they are enrolled in a diversionary program. He said that鈥檚 one of the ways to see if the child can be released back home.
Del. Aaron Kaufman (D-Montgomery) said some youths aren鈥檛 versed in local and state laws, but they know they want to get back home.
鈥淚 have a hard time believing that [youths] know the intricacies of American law,鈥� he said.
But they 鈥渒now the basics and understand right from wrong,鈥� Boatwright said.
The Department of Juvenile Services was a focus in a recent letter signed by Baltimore City Councilmember Zeke Cohen (D), who posted a letter Saturday on his and expressed his frustration that two juveniles who were arrested Nov. 1 by a city police officer, after they were alleged to have assaulted and robbed a city resident, were released just hours later.
The letter, addressed to Vincent Schiraldi, secretary of the Department of Juvenile Services, and Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley, said that the suspects were allowed to return home just hours after the assault 鈥� in apparent conflict with state law 鈥� and that a police report was submitted to DJS the next day.
The letter was also signed by state Democratic lawmakers who represent legislative District 46 鈥� Sen. President Bill Ferguson (D), Clippinger and Dels. Mark Edelson and Robbyn Lewis.
鈥淭hese two young people committed violent offenses,鈥� according to the letter. 鈥淓xisting law is clear: they should have been detained and assessed in our juvenile system; they should not have found themselves at home several hours after committing a violent robbery and assault.鈥�
The Baltimore Police Department said in a statement Saturday that officers followed protocol and were praised for quickly apprehending the two suspects.
鈥淲hile we agree the suspects should have been held in custody in order to protect the public, BPD was not responsible for the release of these individuals,鈥� according to the police. 鈥淲e must come together to honestly and openly discuss whether process, policy and/or legislative updates could ensure better outcomes for our residents.鈥�
Eric Solomon, spokesperson for DJS, said in an email Wednesday that the agency doesn鈥檛 comment on specific cases due to confidentiality laws. He said the notion that the decision was strictly made by the department 鈥渕ay not be accurate and may not fully take into consideration how the system works and various stakeholders鈥� roles in decisions that are made as to how youth are handled at different points in the system.鈥�
鈥淒JS also takes any suggestions of failure聽to follow law, policy, or procedure seriously and conducts reviews of all such matters, and cannot comment while an investigation is being conducted,鈥� Solomon said. 鈥淲e are continually examining and improving services to our young people to keep them and their communities safe, striving to be, as Governor Moore has said, 鈥榙ata-driven and heart-led.鈥欌��
Juvenile Services released in September that showed juvenile complaints have declined over the past decade.
In fiscal year 2014, there were 25,000 juvenile complaints 鈥� including crimes of violence, non-violent felonies, misdemeanors and status offenses. That聽decreased to 7,100 in fiscal year 2021, the height of the pandemic, and increased to 12,363 last fiscal year.
Between 2013 and 2020, according to DJS, youth arrests declined by 63%.
鈥榃e鈥檙e failing鈥�
The committee also heard a presentation from Nick Moroney, director of the Juvenile Justice Monitoring Unit, an independent agency within the state attorney general鈥檚 office that assesses youth programming, and conducts announced and unannounced inspections and visits to facilities.
Moroney said the legislature should support the juvenile services department by providing resources for health, education and other programs in underserved communities.
鈥淭hose [DJS] clients live in those under-sourced neighborhoods,鈥� said Moroney, who added that having youth reside in detention centers that are not within the vicinity of their homes 鈥渋s not a recipe that helps the kids towards success.鈥�
Del. Robin Grammer Jr. (R-Baltimore County) said the juvenile services department hasn鈥檛 been effective, especially when the same youths are arrested for the same or more dangerous offenses.
鈥淛ust from the examples that people give me in the community, and they can tell me names and where these youth live, I think we鈥檙e failing when a youth continues to escalate their conduct,鈥� he said. 鈥淯nequivocally, the state is failing on these children.鈥�
Alice Wilkerson, executive director with Advance Maryland, said the briefing missed a key element: youth and their parents.
鈥淲hile the Judiciary Committee and its leadership should be commended for focusing on youth justice, we still need to hear from those closest to this issue,鈥� Wilkerson said in a statement. 鈥淎ny discussion of juvenile justice policy in Maryland must include perspectives of youth and families of youth who have had, or are at risk of having, contact with the system 鈥� particularly youth of color.鈥�
