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The idea of a juvenile justice center began with a handful of Philadelphia police officers who knew that the way they interacted with minors had to change. Judges Bloomberg Philanthropies US Mayors Challenge are ready to bet that their idea will work.
Bloomberg announced Monday to the nine winners of the challenge that cities have a mission to develop innovative solutions to the most serious problems that other cities could copy if they were successful. Each winner will receive one million dollars in prizes to implement the ideas.
Los Angeles plans to develop a program whereby people will build houses and rent them to homeless people. Georgetown, Texas, plans to become the country's first independent energy community by installing solar panels and a battery storage system in its buildings.
With its price, Philadelphia plans to set up a Juvenile Justice Center, where juveniles will be arrested at the time of arrest rather than being taken to police districts designed to treat adults. Minors can spend up to six hours in small, cold, damp, and obsolete cells, with minimal contact, even with the police, partly to prevent them from incriminating themselves accidentally.
The center will be designed to make minors' contacts with the police less traumatic, but the police and many other partners hope that it will also prevent more children from becoming part of the criminal justice system through quicker links to diversion and removal programs for at-risk minors. intervention services for housing, nutrition, mental health counseling and other areas of need.
Captain Stephen Clark oversees the city's 24th Police District, located in the Port Richmond neighborhood, near the epicenter of the city's opioid epidemic. He was one of the police officers who had the initial idea of talking about how miners are arrested and he told all members of the planning team for months that the idea of Philadelphia would be retained.
"Where I work, there are a lot of violent crimes." Our shooting victims often have important arrest records, so ideally we can also intervene sooner so as not to become this bullet-shoot statistic. did he declare. I said. "I did not join the department to watch people die."
City officials, including the mayor, who ultimately chose the idea of submitting, also acknowledged the potential impact of the hub.
"Just see a child of 10 or 12 years old, sitting alone and scared in an impenetrable prison cell because he's done a silly thing like theft to the display, to understand that the first contact "A child with the justice system is crucial, as this juvenile justice center is needed," said Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney.
Sgt. John Ross, who is responsible for strategic planning within the department, also contributed to the development of the center idea. He said the Philadelphia police detained nearly 4,000 juveniles a year, of whom about 2,300 are charged and end up in the criminal justice system.
For others, the charges are either withdrawn or eventually sent to court through a diversion program that may include addiction treatment, anger management or other interventions. Ross said the hub and services that will connect children and families will hopefully reduce the two numbers.
They said finding a way to connect children and parents with non-court intervention and diversion services would save these minors the additional trauma and stigma of being in the system.
For Bloomberg judges, Philadelphia's involvement in other criminal justice reforms – reducing the number of people in jail, reorganizing the bail process, increasing the number of diversion programs – has indicated that the city would work for the idea of a juvenile justice center to work.
"We are facing more and more problems with mayors, whether it's climate change, opioid control, or affordable housing," said James Anderson, Program Manager for Climate Change. Government innovation at Bloomberg Philanthropies.
"One of the aspects of the Philadelphia idea that I think it was brought up by the selection committee is that it comes from the front-line police who have recognized the need to do something they are different with their interactions with these young people in these critical moments that are shaking their lives.The fact that the city could hear this from the front line and turn into a winning solution is commendable. "
Other prizes were awarded to Denver to install air quality sensors around schools: Durham, NC, to create incentive programs to encourage drivers to use public transit; Fort Collins, Colorado, to help homeowners make low-income housing safer and more energy efficient; Huntington, West Virginia, to integrate the metal health professions with first responders to meet the needs of opioid users; New Rochelle, New York, to implement virtual reality technology during public planning processes; and South Bend, Indiana, which will help low-income and part-time workers find reliable transportation for their commuting through ridesharing.
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