Juvenile Crime in Washington, D.C.

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

Public officials in Washington, D.C. are debating new juvenile justice policies. A number of high-profile crimes in 2003 prompted city leaders to reconsider the District of Columbia's approach to dealing with youth violence. In early October of 2003, a Washington bus driver was hit by a stray bullet during a daylight gun battle between rival youth gangs on a busy street in a residential area. Later that month, a 16-year-old bystander was shot fatally as he was leaving a high school dance. The 15-year-old shooter was aiming at members of a rival gang or "crew."

After nearly a decade of falling crime rates, violent crimes such as these have prompted widespread fears that Washington may be witnessing a new epidemic of murder by young people. Violence—especially gun violence—alarms the public and stirs city officials to act. But do these recent tragedies really represent a significant new trend, and how should the city respond?

So far, the ideas being advanced by Washington leaders represent relatively meager changes in the legal process that are unlikely to have a broad or lasting effect on crime and violence. Rather than focusing their efforts on preventing serious crime and improving the safety of D.C. neighborhoods, elected officials are proposing new legal penalties for violent juveniles. In particular, they want to make it easier to move juvenile offenders into the criminal (adult) justice system for trial and punishment.¹

A member of the D.C. city council recently introduced a bill to lower the age at which juvenile offenders charged with serious crimes may be tried as adults from 16 to 15. Another bill would shift the burden of proof to defendants in cases involving the potential transfer of a juvenile to adult court. Accused juveniles would have to prove that adult trials are not needed, instead of the government being required to prove that they are needed.

Why are Washington officials focusing on policies to increase the use of adult court for juvenile offenders? The number of youth likely to be affected by these changes is relatively small, perhaps a few dozen per year. Furthermore, research on criminal court transfer suggests that while such policies may be popular with the public they will have very little effect on overall public safety and may even increase the odds that youth will commit serious crimes in the future.²

While states such as Maryland and Missouri are expanding their use of crime prevention programs, increasing opportunities for youth, and working harder to rehabilitate young offenders, policymakers in Washington, D.C. are calling for an expansion of adult-style punishment for violent juveniles. The proposals being debated in Washington suggest that the city is being overwhelmed with violent juvenile crime and that new circumstances demand new solutions, especially new ways of handling seriously violent youth. They suggest that the adult justice system is better equipped to protect public safety than is the juvenile justice system.

Is Washington, D.C. experiencing a significant increase in juvenile violence? Is juvenile violence increasing more than adult violence? If the adult justice system is the answer to Washington's violent crime problem, does this mean that violent crime by adults has been going down? This policy brief examines these issues by reviewing the latest data on crime and violence in the City of Washington and the nation.

Endnotes

1. Sewell Chan. 2003. "Shooting Highlights Crime Debate—Mayor Pushes Tougher Rules on Trying Teens as Adults." The Washington Post. November 9, 2003, p. C01.

2. Lonn Lanza-Kaduce, Charles E. Frazier, Jodi Lane, and Donna M. Bishop. 2002. Juvenile Transfer to Criminal Court Study: Final Report. Tallahassee, FL: Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.

This report is available in its entirety in the Portable Document Format (PDF).

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

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