Same Group Of Kids Behind Crime Wave 163 Juveniles Accounted For One-Fifth Of Arrests In ‘94

A study shows that Spokane County’s record juvenile crime wave of 1994 was driven by a small group of repeat offenders.

Less than 1 percent of the county’s juvenile population - 163 kids - accounted for about one-fifth of the 5,184 juvenile arrests last year, according to a city police study released Thursday.

The 149 boys and 14 girls, who were between 10 and 17 years old, averaged six arrests each.

They also were responsible for 34 percent of the arrests for serious crimes committed by juveniles, such as aggravated assault, robbery and drug-related activities.

Juvenile arrests were up 11 percent in 1994, when police arrested more kids in Spokane County than ever before.

Law enforcement and Juvenile Court officials said the report confirms what they’ve known all along - that most of Spokane County’s 40,600 kids aren’t troublemakers.

“The fact of the matter is most kids are good, decent kids,” said Terry Mangan, Spokane police chief. “Some people see anybody between 14 and 21 as bad. That isn’t the case.”

Those few with bad rap sheets give their peers an undeserved bad rap, the chief said.

On the downside, officials said, the report shows how hard it is to control that small percentage of kids who cause the most mayhem.

A lack of resources, special rules for juveniles and the hardened nature of the repeat offenders make it difficult to keep young criminals from continuing their lives of crime, they said.

“The problems are so complex,” said Clint Francis, who supervises the county prosecuting attorney’s juvenile team.

An undersized juvenile detention center is a particular problem.

“We’re turning kids away all the time,” said Rand Young, juvenile detention administrator.

Many kids who are arrested can’t be held because the 60-bed facility on Mallon Avenue often is full, Young said.

Some juveniles who are convicted in court must wait up to six weeks before serving their sentences, he added.

That means they’re back on the streets with the opportunity to commit more crimes.

It also sends kids the message that they can commit crimes and get away with it, Young said.

Spokane County voters rejected an $11 million bond issue last year that would have doubled the size of the juvenile jail.

Mangan blamed part of the problem on a judicial system that he said gives juveniles all the rights of adult offenders but holds them far less accountable.

“We’ve broken the juvenile justice system to the point where kids know exactly how many points they can accumulate before they’ll spend even one day in detention,” he said. “They know how to play the game.”

Francis said social circumstances also are a consideration.

Many of the repeat offenders live on the streets after fleeing from abusive homes, he said.

“You can’t maintain yourself on the streets without committing crimes,” he said.

Drug and alcohol addiction further complicate things, Francis added.

“You can’t be 15, 16, 17 years old, unemployed and support a cocaine habit. You’re going to have to commit crimes,” he said.

More programs to identify at-risk kids and get them emotional, job or addiction counseling would help alleviate the problem, officials said, as would more jail cells and tougher sentences.

But easy, inexpensive solutions are hard to come by, they added.

“If I had the answer to that question, I’d be rich,” Francis said.