Statistics

The Clackamas County Juvenile Department is fortunate to have the support of its community, the County Commissioners, County Administrator and the budget committee. Our relatively low juvenile crime rate is attributable to the strong commitment from community partners and citizens, police and sheriff departments, and the juvenile department to keep our neighborhoods safe.

Following are year by year juvenile department statistics for Clackamas County Juvenile Department. These figures are divided into Totals, Crimes by type, Other types and Specific Crimes and Recidivism. The reader is reminded to keep in mind that an increase or decrease in numbers may be attributable to an increase or decrease in population and/or an increase or decrease in the number of officers patrolling our streets.

Totals
There are three ways to look at juvenile justice activities: Total Referrals, Total Allegations and Total Youth. Each "total" provides a very different and useful way to scrutinize juvenile delinquency.

1. Referrals: Generally, a referral is a police report received by the juvenile department. A referral may contain the allegation of one or more law violation. Every time an officer "refers" a youth to the juvenile department that referral counts as one new "referral".
2. Allegations: An allegation is the specific claim by an officer that a youth was involved in a specific illegal behavior(s). One referral may contain one or several allegations. In the example below Johnny's first referral to the juvenile department was for four different allegations: runaway, shoplifting, disorderly conduct and possession of alcohol.
3. Youth: The total number of youth is a one time count of each youth referred to the juvenile department. Johnny may be referred to the juvenile department 5 times in a one year period but with a "youth" count he will not be counted five times - he will only be counted once. The "Youth" total is an unduplicated count of youth.

Example: If Johnny was taken into custody for runaway, shoplifting, disorderly conduct and possession of alcohol, the officer would "refer" Johnny to the juvenile department. If, six months later Johnny is again taken into custody for car theft and assault he would, again, be referred to the juvenile department, this time the new referral has two new allegations.

In the example above Johnny was "referred" to the juvenile department twice. He had a total of six (6) "allegations" and would only count as one (1) youth.

Chart 1: Referrals, allegations and youth over the past several years:

Crime by Type
Crimes are often grouped into category types. The three most common types for adults are:

1. Person crimes Crimes where a person was injured such as assault, menacing or sex crimes. Of course, with juveniles, by far, the most common person crime is assault.
2. Property crimes Crimes involving property loss, damage, or infringement such as burglary, shoplifting, mischief or trespassing. Again, the significant leader among juvenile property crimes is shoplifting.
3. Public Order (or Behavior) crimes: As the name implies these are crimes which involved the persons actions, such as disorderly conduct, prostitution or weapons charges. Harassment is the significant leader in this category.
4. Drug crimes: Drug crimes include any allegation made that a person engaged in felony or misdemeanor drug possession or use. This group does not include Minor in Possession of Alcohol or other drug "violations".

Chart 2: Person, property, public order and drug crimes over the past several years, (reported by allegation):

Other Law Violations
The Juvenile Department also has jurisdiction over three other types of laws which are specific to children and youth:

1. Status Offenses.  Status offenses are laws which only apply to juveniles and do not apply to adults. Examples of status offenses include curfew, possession of tobacco and runaway.
   
   
2. Violations.  Simply stated, violations are activities which are illegal but can not result in a jail sentence. Minor in Possession of Alcohol and, Possession of Less than an Ounce of Marijuana are two violations monitored closely by the juvenile department.
   
   
3. Dependency.  Dependency issues are ones where the child or youth is not before the Court because of his or her actions. Rather, they need the services of the Court because they need to be cared for or kept safe. Typical dependency cases include child abuse, neglect or abandonment.

Charts 3 and 4, below, outline year by year summaries of status offenses, violations and dependency matters.

Chart 3: Status Offenses and Violations, (reported by allegation).

Chart 4: Dependency Matters, (listed by referral)

	Dependency Matters
1998	327
1999	491
2000	327
2001	285
2002	261
2003	265
2004	272
2005	311
2006	256
2007	225
2008	206
2009	234

Specific Offenses
The following chart outlines yearly trends for specific crimes which typically are of particular concern to community members, (reported by allegation).

Recidivism
Recidivism is the measure of how many youth re-offend with a new crime within one year of their most recent referral. (Note: At lease one full year must pass before recidivism can be reported)

	Recidivism
1996	29%
1997	30%
1998	28%
1999	30.7%
2000	33%
2001	28.2%
2002	24.7%
2003	24.5%
2004	21.8%
2005	23.6%
2006	22.6%
2007	23.6%
2008	22.8%

Want More?
If you would like even more statistical information you can visit http://www.oya.state.or.us/jjisdata.htm or contact the Clackamas County Juvenile Department at 503-655-8342.