ARRESTING JUSTICE (Second Edition): JUVENILE ARRESTS IN … · 2013-08-05 · Arrest – Persons 17...

ARRESTING JUSTICE (Second Edition): JUVENILE ARRESTS IN CHICAGO,

2011 and 2012

By Mariame Kaba (Project NIA)

Image by Mauricio Pineda

August 2013

In June 2011, we published Arresting Justice: A Report about Juvenile Arrests in Chicago, 2009 &

2010 (http://arrestjustice.wordpress.com/) along with our allies at First Defense Legal Aid. We

are pleased today to release a second edition of Arresting Justice that relies on data requested

from the Chicago Police Department (CPD) for calendar years 2011 and 2012.

As you read through the report, please be aware of a few important things. Arrest statistics

report the number of arrests that the police made in a given year. They do not describe the

number of individuals arrested or the number of crimes committed. As Puzzanchera and

Adams point out:

“The number of arrests is not the same as the number of people arrested because an unknown

number of individuals are arrested more than once during the year. Nor do arrest statistics

represent the number of crimes that arrested individuals commit because a series of crimes that

one person commits may culminate in a single arrest, and a single crime may result in the arrest

of more than one person. This latter situation, where many arrests result from one crime, is

relatively common in juvenile law-violating behavior because juveniles are more likely than

adults to commit crimes in groups.”1

This second edition of Arresting Justice was written and produced by Mariame Kaba. The report

is part of the Chicago Youth Justice Data Project (http://chicagoyouthjustice.com/), an initiative

of Project NIA (http://project-nia.org/).

About The Author…

Mariame Kaba is the founding director of Project NIA. She is an educator, organizer, and writer

who lives in Chicago. Her work focuses on ending violence, dismantling the prison industrial

complex and supporting youth leadership development. Mariame was a program officer for

education and youth development at the Steans Family Foundation from 2004-2009. She has

also been a consultant helping organizations to develop their evaluation capacity. Mariame is a

published author, curriculum developer, and has served on numerous nonprofit boards.

1 Puzzanchera, Charles and Adams, Benjamin (2011, Dec). “Juvenile Arrests 2009”. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile

Justice and Delinquency Prevention. http://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/236477.pdf

http://arrestjustice.wordpress.com/

http://chicagoyouthjustice.com/

http://project-nia.org/

http://www.ojjdp.gov/pubs/236477.pdf

QUICK SUMMARY

Number of Total Juvenile Arrests in 2011: 25,111

Number of Total Juvenile Arrests in 2012: 22,877

The number of juvenile arrests decreased by 9 percent from 2011 to 2012.

Blacks accounted for 77% of juvenile arrests in 2011 & 79% in 2012

Latinos accounted for 18% of juvenile arrests in 2011 & 17% in 2012

Boys/Young men were 84% of juvenile arrests in 2011 & 2012

Most juvenile arrests were for misdemeanor offenses in 2011 & 2012

Section 1. Total Juvenile Arrests 2011 & 2012

In the following table, the type of offense is provided for informational purposes, giving context to the

number of total arrests. Data is not available for the numbers of youth with whom the police have

contact but do not formally arrests. According to CPD, there were 22,877 juvenile arrests in 2012; down

from 25,111 in 2011 (a decrease of about 9%).

Total Number of Arrests of Persons, 17 and Under (City of Chicago, 2011 & 2012)

OFFENSE TYPE 2011 2012 % Change

Felony 5,425 5,189 -4.35%

Misdemeanor 16,423 14,476 -11.85%

Other* 1,636 1,595 -2.5%

Total (based on offenses) 23,484 21,260 -9.5%

Total (based on CPD district numbers) 25,111 22,877 -8.9%

Source: CPD Research & Development Division, Research & Analysis Section (CLEARDW, 3/22/13)

* MCC Violations (Municipal Ordinance Arrests)

Juvenile Arrests by District2 – Persons 17 and Under (City of Chicago, 2011 & 2012)

Most of the juvenile arrests in 2012 (64.5%) happened in 10 out of the 25 districts. In order of most to

least, these districts are 8, 11, 7, 15, 4, 3, 6, 5, 9, and 10.

District 2011 % Total 2011 2012 % Total 2012 TOTAL (2011 & 2012)

01 636 2.53 599 2.62 1,235

02 841 3.34 973 4.25 1,814

03 1,363 5.43 1,346 5.88 2,709

04 1,768 7.04 1,475 6.45 3,243

05 1,267 5.04 1,295 5.66 2,562

06 1,479 5.89 1,302 5.69 2,781

07 1,407 5.6 1,499 6.55 2,906

08 2,025 8.06 2,051 8.96 4,076

09 1,418 5.65 1,259 5.5 2,677

10 1,152 4.59 1,244 5.44 2,396

11 1,767 7.04 1,812 7.92 3,579

12 793 3.16 635 2.77 1,428

13 433 1.72 410 1.79 843

14 491 1.95 559 2.44 1,050

15 1,661 6.61 1,478 6.46 3,139

16 385 1.53 365 1.59 750

17 867 3.45 625 2.73 1,492

18 1,260 5.02 890 3.89 2,150

19 280 1.11 401 1.75 681

2 Districts 13, 21, and 23 merged with other districts at various points in 2012.

20 457 1.82 421 1.84 878

21 499 1.99 60 0.26 559

22 857 3.41 775 3.39 1,632

23 168 0.67 24 0.1 192

24 518 2.06 454 1.98 972

25 1,319 5.25 925 4.04 2,244

TOTAL 25,111 100% 22,877 100% 47,988


Section 2 – Demographic Information about Juvenile Arrests in Chicago

The following tables illustrate the demographic breakdown of juvenile arrests in Chicago. Below is

information about juvenile arrests by gender, and race.

Arrests – Persons 17 and Under by Race (City of Chicago, 2011)

Black White Hispanic

White Black Hispanic

Asian/Pacific Islander

Unknown Indian TOTAL

19,354 4,637 857 159 86 16 2 25,111

77% 18.47% 3.41% 0.6% 0.34% 100%


Arrests – Persons 17 and Under by Race & District (City of Chicago, 2011)

District Black White Hispanic




01 539 55 35 1 6 0 0 636

02 813 17 6 1 4 0 0 841

03 1,361 1 1 0 0 0 0 1,363

04 1,524 201 29 10 4 0 0 1,768

05 1,252 3 9 1 2 0 0 1,267

06 1,476 2 0 1 0 0 0 1,479

07 1,401 4 1 0 1 0 0 1,407

08 1,134 765 113 7 4 2 0 2,025

09 749 560 93 13 3 0 0 1,418

10 622 508 17 5 0 0 0 1,152

11 1,722 32 3 7 2 1 0 1,767

12 415 358 11 7 2 0 0 793

13 316 91 18 8 0 0 0 433

14 175 263 20 31 2 0 0 491

15 1,635 15 8 1 1 1 0 1,661

16 53 163 148 6 11 4 0 385

17 228 487 127 10 12 2 1 867

18 1,165 49 29 4 11 2 0 1,260

19 134 107 29 7 1 1 1 280

20 251 153 39 5 8 1 0 457

21 492 3 1 1 2 0 0 499

22 819 5 33 0 0 0 0 857

23 120 28 12 5 3 0 0 168

24 380 97 32 6 2 1 0 518

25 578 670 43 22 5 1 0 1,319

TOTAL 19,354 4,637 857 159 86 16 2 25,111


Arrests – Persons 17 and Under by Race (City of Chicago, 2012)

Black White Hispanic




18,008 3,857 730 173 83 19 7 22,877

78.72% 16.86% 3.19% 0.76% 100%


Arrests – Persons 17 and Under by Race & District (City of Chicago, 2012)

District Black White Hispanic




01 536 37 15 4 7 0 0 599

02 948 13 6 1 5 0 0 973

03 1,336 0 4 3 2 1 0 1,346

04 1,270 169 18 10 7 1 0 1,475

05 1,281 10 4 0 0 0 0 1,295

06 1,295 1 1 1 4 0 0 1,302

07 1,497 1 1 0 0 0 0 1,499

08 1,222 711 99 10 6 3 0 2,051

09 666 503 77 7 6 0 0 1,259

10 766 460 13 2 3 0 0 1,244

11 1,778 18 4 9 2 1 0 1,812

12 330 291 10 3 1 0 0 635

13 289 100 14 7 0 0 0 410

14 196 285 36 38 1 3 0 559

15 1,470 6 2 0 0 0 0 1,478

16 64 142 144 7 5 2 1 365

17 175 340 82 18 5 3 2 625

18 814 41 23 3 8 1 0 890

19 244 81 62 9 3 1 1 401

20 273 104 28 11 3 0 2 421

21 55 1 1 0 3 0 0 60

22 736 8 28 2 0 1 0 775

23 13 9 1 1 0 0 0 24

24 321 98 20 4 9 1 1 454

25 433 428 37 23 3 1 0 925

TOTAL 18,008 3,857 730 173 83 19 7 22,877


Arrest – Persons 17 and Under by Gender (City of Chicago, 2011 & 2012)

2011 TOTAL 2012 TOTAL

Male Female Male Female

21,199 3,912 25,111 19,172 3,703 22,8753

Percentage 84.42% 15.58% 100% 83.81% 16.19% 100%

CPD Research & Development Division, Research & Analysis Section (CLEARDW, 3/22/13)

Arrest – Persons 17 and Under by Gender & District (City of Chicago, 2011 & 2012)

District 2011 TOTAL 2012 TOTAL

Male Female Male Female

01 429 207 636 375 224 599

02 716 125 841 789 184 973

03 1,164 199 1,363 1,162 183 1,345

04 1,461 307 1,768 1,225 250 1,475

05 1,027 240 1,267 926 369 1,295

06 1,197 282 1,479 1,035 267 1,302

07 1,265 142 1,407 1,317 182 1,499

08 1,653 372 2,025 1,709 342 2,051

09 1,255 163 1,418 1,131 128 1,259

10 1,068 84 1,152 1,142 102 1,244

11 1,577 190 1,767 1,652 160 1,812

12 691 102 793 556 79 635

13 359 74 433 347 63 410

14 433 58 491 495 64 559

15 1,528 133 1,661 1,370 108 1,478

16 335 50 385 310 55 365

17 707 160 867 471 154 625

18 899 361 1,260 612 277 889

19 228 52 280 326 75 401

20 380 77 457 350 71 421

21 406 93 499 50 10 60

22 701 156 857 651 124 775

23 144 24 168 20 4 24

24 453 65 518 382 72 454

25 1,123 196 1,319 769 156 925

TOTAL 21,199 3,912 25,111 19,172 3,703 22,875


3 There were two arrests in 2012 that were classified as “UNKNOWN”

Section 3 – Juvenile Arrests & Offenses by District and by Volume

The following tables report the numbers of arrests of people age 17 and younger in each Chicago Police

District in calendar years 2011 and 2012. Juveniles may be held in police custody while they are under

investigation for criminal offenses. However, some juveniles are released without being charged: not all

juvenile arrests result in court referral. Additionally, some juveniles may be arrested for multiple

offenses during the same incident, so these data describe numbers of arrests, not numbers of

individuals who were arrested or ultimately prosecuted. Most juveniles in Chicago are arrested for

misdemeanor offenses.

Arrests – Misdemeanor and Felony Offenses for Persons 17 Years and Under by District (City of Chicago,

2011 & 2012)

District4 2011 TOTAL 2012 TOTAL

FELONY MISDEMEANOR FELONY MISDEMEANOR

01 75 502 577 85 463 548

02 191 536 727 243 628 871

03 288 875 1,163 262 841 1,103

04 308 1,254 1,562 332 967 1,299

05 303 832 1,135 254 897 1,151

06 286 956 1,242 265 839 1,104

07 415 775 1,190 428 848 1,276

08 379 1,434 1,813 306 1,497 1,803

09 220 1,017 1,237 264 807 1,071

10 315 650 965 332 652 984

11 827 655 1,482 899 593 1,492

12 120 611 731 85 499 584

13 80 297 377 103 267 370

14 87 314 401 99 344 443

15 377 914 1,291 338 824 1,162

16 57 292 349 55 274 329

17 118 657 775 105 458 563

18 146 999 1,145 115 700 815

19 45 209 254 56 293 349

20 50 360 410 58 309 367

21 119 339 458 11 49 60

22 178 606 784 192 485 677

23 31 111 142 0 18 18

24 131 327 458 95 302 397

25 276 901 1,180 207 622 829

TOTAL 5,425 16,423 21,848 5,189 14,476 19,665


4 Districts 13, 21, and 23 merged with other districts at various points in 2012 which accounts for some of the

variation in numbers.

Juvenile Arrests & Offenses in Each Chicago Police District – Rank by Volume

Rank Total Juvenile Arrests Felony Arrests Misdemeanor Arrests

2011 District No. District No. District No.

1 08 – Chicago Lawn 2025 11 – Harrison 827 08 – Chicago Lawn 1434

2 04 -- South Chicago 1768 07 – Englewood 415 04 – South Chicago 1254

3 11 – Harrison 1767 08 – Chicago Lawn 379 09 – Deering 1017

4 15 – Austin 1661 15 – Austin 377 18 – Near North 999

5 06 – Gresham 1479 10 – Ogden 315 06 – Gresham 956

6 09 – Deering 1418 04 – South Chicago 308 15 – Austin 914

7 07 – Englewood 1407 05 -- Pullman 303 25 – Grand Central 901

8 03 – Grand Crossing 1363 03 – Grand Crossing 288 03 – Grand Crossing 875

9 25 – Grand Central 1319 06 – Gresham 286 05 – Pullman 832

10 05 – Pullman 1267 25 – Grand Central 279 07 – Englewood 775

11 18 – Near North 1260 09 – Deering 220 17 – Albany Park 657

12 10 – Ogden 1152 02—Wentworth 191 11 – Harrison 655

13 17 – Albany Park 867 22 – Morgan Park 178 10 – Ogden 650

14 22 – Morgan Park 857 18 – Near North 146 12 – Monroe 611

15 02 – Wentworth 841 24 – Rogers Park 131 22 – Morgan Park 606

16 12 – Monroe 793 12 – Monroe 120 02 – Wentworth 536

17 01 -- Central 636 21 – Prairie 119 01 – Central 502

18 24 – Rogers Park 518 17 – Albany Park 118 20 – Foster 360

19 21 – Prairie 499 14 – Shakespeare 87 21 – Prairie 339

20 14 – Shakespeare 491 13 – Wood 80 24 – Rogers Park 327

21 20 – Foster 457 01 – Central 75 14 – Shakespeare 314

22 13 – Wood 433 16 – Jefferson Park 57 13 – Wood 297

23 16 – Jefferson Park 385 20 – Foster 50 16 – Jefferson Park 292

24 19 – Belmont 280 19 – Belmont 45 19 – Belmont 209

25 23 – Town Hall 168 23 – Town Hall 31 23 – Town Hall 111

Source: Chicago Police Department Research and Development Division, Research & Analysis Section (May, 2013). This table does not include arrests for City of Chicago municipal ordinance violations, which are factored into the total number of arrests per district reported by the CPD.

Rank Total Juvenile Arrests Felony Arrests Misdemeanor Arrests

2012 District No. District No. District No.

1 08 – Chicago Lawn 2,051 11 – Harrison 899 08 – Chicago Lawn 1,497

2 11 – Harrison 1,812 07 – Englewood 428 04 – South Chicago 967

3 07 – Englewood 1,499 15 – Austin 338 05 – Pullman 897

4 15 – Austin 1,478 04 – South Chicago 332 07 – Englewood 848

5 04 – South Chicago 1,475 10 – Ogden 332 03 – Grand Crossing 841

6 03 – Grand Crossing

1,346 08 – Chicago Lawn 306 06 – Gresham 839

7 06 – Gresham 1,302 06 – Gresham 265 15 – Austin 824

8 05 – Pullman 1,295 09 – Deering 264 09 – Deering 807

9 09 – Deering 1,259 03 – Grand 262 18 – Near North 700

Crossing

10 10 – Ogden 1,244 05 – Pullman 254 10 – Ogden 652

11 02 – Wentworth 973 02 – Wentworth 243 02 – Wentworth 628

12 25 – Grand Central 925 25 – Grand Central 207 25 – Grand Central 622

13 18 – Near North 890 22 – Morgan Park 192 11 – Harrison 593

14 22 – Morgan Park 775 18 – Near North 115 12 – Monroe 499

15 12 – Monroe 635 17 – Albany Park 105 22 – Morgan Park 485

16 17 – Albany Park 625 13 – Wood 103 01 – Central 463

17 01 – Central 599 14 – Shakespeare 99 17 – Albany Park 458

18 14 – Shakespeare 559 24 – Rogers Park 95 14 – Shakespeare 344

19 24 –Rogers Park 454 01 – Central 85 20 – Foster 309

20 20 – Foster 421 12 – Monroe 85 24 – Rogers Park 302

21 13 – Wood 410 20 – Foster 58 19 – Belmont 293

22 19 – Belmont 401 19 – Belmont 56 16 – Jefferson Park 274

23 16 – Jefferson Park 365 16 – Jefferson Park 55 13 – Wood 267

24 21 – Prairie 60 21 – Prairie 11 21 – Prairie 49

25 23 –Town Hall 24 23 -- Town Hall 0 23 – Town Hall 18

Source: Chicago Police Department Research and Development Division, Research & Analysis Section (May, 2013). This table does not include arrests for City of Chicago municipal ordinance violations, which are factored into the total number of arrests per district reported by the CPD.

Section 4 - Formal/Informal Station Adjustments

As an alternative to referring the case to Juvenile Court, a youth officer may release a young person

from custody with a station adjustment. There are two types of station adjustments: informal and

formal. A youth officer may give an informal station adjustment if he decides there is probable cause to

believe the juvenile committed an offense. A formal station adjustment is different in that a juvenile

must also admit involvement in the alleged offense. The juvenile’s admission can later be used as

evidence against him if he violates the terms of the formal adjustment and his case is referred to court.

Although they are not convictions, station adjustments usually appear in a juvenile’s arrest history. All

formal station adjustments must be recorded with the Illinois State Police. Informal station adjustments

for felonies must also be recorded with the Illinois State Police, and informal station adjustments for

misdemeanors may be recorded. Station adjustments can be expunged from a juvenile’s record.

There were 1,080 formal and 6,149 informal station adjustments reported by CPD in 2012.

STATION ADJUSTMENTS (CITY OF CHICAGO, 2011 & 2012)

2011 2012

DISTRICT5 Formal Adjustments

Informal Adjustments

Formal Adjustments

Informal Adjustments

TOTAL

01 37 345 34 223 639

02 21 210 23 298 552

03 13 114 96 252 475

04 16 201 17 207 441

05 36 182 33 205 456

06 35 171 13 184 403

07 27 288 19 370 704

08 75 648 55 828 1,606

09 64 489 32 429 1,014

10 34 312 25 356 727

11 116 311 69 311 807

12 208 280 116 169 773

13 59 153 42 94 348

14 47 152 42 228 469

15 140 502 72 490 1,204

16 67 121 53 113 354

17 141 273 84 222 720

18 28 703 79 382 1,192

19 18 110 29 175 332

20 27 133 23 108 291

21 16 121 137

22 15 119 11 131 276

23 6 57 63

5 Districts 13, 21, and 23 merged with other districts at various points in 2012.

24 23 128 17 132 300

25 161 379 96 242 878

TOTAL 1,430 6,502 6,149 1,080 15,161 SOURCE: Youth Investigation Section, Detective Division, provided to CPD Research & Development on 28 March 2013

Appendix A. Juvenile Arrests by District – Persons 17 and Under (City of Chicago, 2009-2012)

District 2009 2010 2011 2012 % Change 2009-2012

01 676 685 636 599 -11.4%

02 873 731 841 973 +11.45%

03 1,942 1,660 1,363 1,346 -30%

04 2,001 1,914 1,768 1,475 -26.2%

05 1,627 1,464 1,267 1,295 -20.4%

06 2,040 1,674 1,479 1,302 -36.1%

07 1,665 1,447 1,407 1,499 -10%

08 2,565 2,247 2,025 2,051 -20%

09 1,671 1,334 1,418 1,259 -24.6%

10 1,349 1,348 1,152 1,244 -7.8%

11 2,478 2,141 1,767 1,812 -26.8%

12 957 880 793 635 -33.6%

13 551 417 433 410 -25.6

14 815 588 491 559 -31.4%

15 2,021 1,975 1,661 1,478 -26.9%

16 685 494 385 365 -46.7%

17 1,031 959 867 625 -39.4%

18 662 770 1,260 890 +34.4%

19 317 318 280 401 +26.5

20 559 590 457 421 -24.7

21 443 472 499 60 -86.4

22 1,266 1,129 857 775 -38.8

23 248 212 168 24 -90.3

24 920 708 518 454 -50.6

25 1,862 1,406 1,319 925 -50.3

TOTAL 31,224 27,563 25,111 22,877 -26.7%

Source: Chicago Police Department’s Research and Development Division, Research and Analysis Section (March 2011 and May 2013)

ARRESTING JUSTICE (Second Edition): JUVENILE ARRESTS IN … · 2013-08-05 · Arrest – Persons 17...

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