Our View

Our View

Addressing, reducing juvenile crime in Arkansas

It was somewhat surprising to learn that most Arkansas youths thrown in juvenile jail last year were nonviolent offenders, something that once again needs to be seriously addressed by the powers- to-be within the Arkansas Department of Corrections, law enforcement officials as well as judges sentencing these nonviolent kids to unnecessary jail time.

While there were will be those socialistic do-gooders who disagree with our next assessment, we’re not surprised to also learn that it is also most likely that those youths most affected are black and male.

Based on a recently released state report, we’ve learned that nearly half of all juvenile confinements in fiscal 2017 were male and black, yet black male youths make up; only about 20 percent of the state’s total adolescent population.

Now what does that tell us? First of all, it indicates there is a serious lack of parental control over these kids who are being brought up with little to no adult supervision. This situation can’t blamed on racial injustice, nor can blame be placed totally on law enforcement.

Where the fingers need to be pointed is directly at the fathers, mothers and family of these children who have very frankly abandoned any form of parental guidance. We also can blame community leaders and politicians serving these communities, particularly in southeast Arkansas, for failing to address a serious situation they are very well aware of.

Where we can place some responsibility in this situation is on our school officials as well as those lawyers and judges within the judicial system for failing to have a system in place that effectively addresses the problems of these nonviolent youth who certainly don’t deserve jail time.

The fact is that the crime just simply does not fit the punishment in most of these cases.

The statistics show Arkansas jailed 451 youths, ages as young as just 11 to 19, in the year that ended June 30, spending as much as $87,000 per child.

Furthermore, it costs the Arkansas DOC nearly $60 a day, on average, to house one adult inmate.

Now then, anyone with any sense of intelligence should realize that first this situation should not exist, and second, there is a tremendous amount of tax dollars that should certainly be better used within the DOC.

We have to certainly concur with Sen. Stephanie Flowers, a Pine Bluff Democrat and chairman of the Senate Children and Youth Committee, who said, “It’s offensive to me, and it ought to be offensive to all of us.”

But, by the same token, we would think that Sen.

Flowers, being involved in this state’s youth issues, would have known about this situation well before now.

For instance, in fiscal 2016, the state sadly locked up 467 youths. The previous year that number was 526, and in fiscal 2014, it was 486, which tells us someone within this bureaucratic system has simple ignored this situation.

We would expect our elected officials, including Gov. Asa Hutchinson, to take immediate action, set new policies, work with judges and law enforcement and place the burden of responsibility on the state’s Youth Services Division to make sure this situation is resolved.