NCJ Number
186910
Date Published
June 2000
Length
96 pages
Annotation
This overview of juvenile crime and justice-system activities in Illinois provides statistics and information on juveniles arrested, juvenile court, juvenile detention, juvenile probation, juvenile correctional commitments, juvenile transfers to criminal court, and juvenile risk indicators and their implications for juvenile crime in Illinois.
Abstract
Although juveniles account for approximately 18 percent of Illinois' total population, in 1999 they accounted for 26 percent of the people arrested for property offenses, 23 percent of those arrested for violent offenses, and 11 percent of those arrested for drug offenses. There were triple the number of juvenile drug arrests in 1999 compared to 1990. Between 1995 and 1999, however, the number of juveniles arrested for drug offenses actually decreased 8 percent. Statewide, delinquency petition filings decreased 9 percent between 1995 and 1998. The majority of counties with the highest delinquency filing rates in 1998 were Illinois' rural counties. Statewide the proportion of delinquency filings formally adjudicated increased from 36 percent in 1995 to 47 percent in 1998. Although Cook County (Chicago) accounted for 45 percent of all detention center admissions in 1998, Illinois' rural counties experienced the largest percentage increase (57 percent) in admissions between 1995 and 1998. Cook County not only accounted for more than 40 percent of all juvenile court commitments to the Juvenile Division of the Illinois Department of Corrections in 1998, but also had the greatest increase (100 percent) of any of the regions between 1995 and 1998. Between 1995 and 1998, the number of juveniles adjudicated and placed on probation in Illinois increased 10 percent. Based on county-level analyses, in 1998 Illinois rural counties accounted for the majority of counties with the highest rates of most juvenile justice system activity measures. 50 figures and appended county-by-county data