S.F. struggles with juvenile offenders (money wasted. I am shocked)

SFGate.com ^ | 2-27-08 | Heather Knight

[dynachrome]

When the number of kids locked up at San Francisco's juvenile hall reached record numbers last spring, Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered the population at the hall to be reduced and the city to recommit to partnering with community groups that work intensively with troubled youth while allowing them to live at home.

Nine months later, however, executives with the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a leading private funder of such initiatives around the country, say the $587,500 it has given San Francisco since 2001 to help achieve that very goal has been wasted and that change is happening at "a snail's pace."

[dynachrome]

1 million dollar wheelchair ramps are ok though.

[Cicero]

In addition, he said, more young people in the city are getting arrested in groups in part because of new technology. A text message from one youngster can quickly draw a group into a bad situation that escalates into a crime. That can lead to five juvenile defendants with five different lawyers in a case, making it harder to coordinate schedules and resulting in the youths being held in juvenile hall longer.

Problems, problems.

[zaxxon]

"Advocacy groups accused authorities of overzealous policing......."

I like how these "advocacy groups" seem to lament this "overzealous policing" (whatever the hell that is). I guess if the police just ignored the crimes being comitted by these kids than the rate of re-arrest would be lower and make these progressive policies look a bit more successful.

But of course liberals support the police just as much as conservatives do.