Internal Affairs and professional standards in Georgia's juvenile justice system

Juvenile Detention

The objective of this work is to analyze and report on a section, bureau or division in a criminal justice agency with a focus on examining the manner in which the section, bureau or division influences agency operations. Examples of the section, bureau or division that might be chosen for analysis includes those of Human Resources, Records Division, Office of Legal Affairs, Internal Affairs and/or Professionals Standards, Labor Relations Office, Budget Section for the ABC County Sheriff's Office and the DEF Juvenile Detention Center. For the purpose of this study the chosen section, bureau or division for analysis will be that of Internal Affairs as relating to Professional Standards in Juvenile Justice Affairs.

Methodology

The research which follows will be conducted qualitatively through means of an interview and a review of literature in this area of study. Qualitative research is interpretive in nature.

II. Licensing Requirements and Program Assessment

Included in the licensing requirements and program assessments are on-site licensing and unannounced monitoring visits to the state contracted juvenile detention centers, community intervention center and municipal juvenile detention facilities. This included both announced and surprise or unannounced assessments of the residential care, non-residential services and shelters that are contracted and on-site assessments of the institutions operated by the Georgia Office of Justice Agency. The Juvenile Services Unit offices are also subject to on-site assessment as are any GOJA operated institutions. On-site assessments of the GOJA State Office units are also included.

III. Interviewee in this Study Bob Roberts Sheriff's Captain Reporting Directly to Sheriff in Dade County, Georgia

Bob Roberts, Sheriff's Captain for Dade County, Georgia Sheriff's Department and reporting directly to the Sheriff of Dade County is interviewed in this study as he is responsible for direction and monitoring of professional standards among investigators and other others working with juvenile justice affairs in Dade County, Georgia.

IV. Interview Questions and Answers

Question:

What are the primary responsibilities in your position as Sheriff's Captain?

Answer:

My primary responsibility is to "command a major division of the Sheriff's Department; performs complex administrative and professional duties including planning, organizing, directing, supervising, coordinating, and evaluating all the major functional programs and operations of the division; represents the Sheriff before commissions, boards, and other public bodies. I may act as Sheriff in his absence."

Question:

What distinguishes your position from others in the Sheriff's Department?

Answer:

The Sheriff's Captain serves as a major bureau chief or a Correctional Facility Manager within the Sheriff's Department and his work involves responsibility for the effective operation of major bureaus or facilities within the Sheriff's Department. The major bureaus include the Central Sheriff's Administrative Bureau, the Correction Facility, and the Field Services Division. The incumbents exercise considerable discretion in the performance of duties. Work is performed with a maximum amount of independence within established federal, state, and county laws; ordinances and regulations. The Sheriff's Captain is a sworn position within the Sheriff's Department; and incumbents may report directly to the Sheriff or the Undersheriff. Work is reviewed by means of conferences and analysis of objectives and results accomplished."

Question:

Please provide a description of your essential job functions.

Answer:

My essential job functions are to plan, direct, coordinate, organize, supervise and evaluate the operations, functions and personnel of one of the divisions of the department. I further direct and supervise staff engaged in crime investigation, patrol or assigned areas, juvenile crime and delinquency investigation, control and prevention; prepare cases for prosecution, instruct assigned personnel in the maintenance of order, law enforcement, prevention of crime and protection of life and property.

Additionally I direct and supervise staff engaged in the reception, detention and release of inmates including education, counseling, work therapy and other measures related to the rehabilitation of adult offenders while in custody; maintain all related records and prepare reports."

Also, it is my responsibility to ensure that "quality standards and compliance with regulations are maintained. I also perform special assignments that include the research and preparation of reports and projects, development and administration of programs and administration of state and federal grants and presentation of technical data to management.

Question:

How does your management of juvenile affairs affect or impact the Sheriff's Department as a whole? The Juvenile Justice System in your County?

Answer:

That is an important question and one I will answer first by stating that the manner in which the Sheriff's Department of Dade County uses in handling its affairs and interactions with juveniles who have found their way into the justice system has a great impact indeed on the entire county and its manner of handling these types of cases and interactions with these juveniles, their advocates and their family members. For example, it is important that the investigators on these cases do not violate the Constitutional rights of juveniles who are under investigation for criminal activity.

IV. Literature Review

The work of Brooke Richie (2009) entitled: "Department of Justice Finds Serious Constitutional Violations at State Juvenile Facilities" reports that after having conducted a "comprehensive investigation into four State juvenile detention facilities the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division issues a scathing report slamming New York's Office of Children and Family Services for serious constitutional rights violations." It is reported by Richie (2009) that the investigation

"...was conducted pursuant to two federal laws governing the treatment of minors in juvenile justice facilities: The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act (CRIPA), which gives the DOJ authority to investigate and enforce the constitutional rights of minors in juvenile justice facilities, and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1984, makes it unlawful for the government to deprive incarcerated minor of their constitutional or federal statutory rights. The DOJ investigated four OCFS youth facilities -- Lansing Residential Center, Louis Gossett Js. Residential Center, Tryon Residential Center, and Tryon Girls Residential Center -- finding pervasive use of excessive force and consistent failures to provide adequate mental health services to the youth in the facilities." (Richie, 2009)

Also reviewed is a September 9th, 2005 letter to the Honorable Mitch Daniels, Governor of the State of Indiana written by Bradley J. Schlozman, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of the Indiana Attorney General for the purpose of reporting the findings of the Civil Rights Division's investigation of conditions at the Plainfield Juvenile Correctional Facility (Plainfield, Indiana).

Following an investigations there were findings that certain violations were evident and specifically those relating to failure to protect confined juveniles from harm; failure to address incidences of youth violence due to inadequate supervision; failure to protect juveniles confined from participation in sexual activity; and excessive use of physical force, among other serious violations all clearly in violation of professional standards and conduct.

Discussion

The interview in this work in combination with the literature reviewed highlight the importance of the role of the individual or agency responsible for ensuring that professional standards of conduct are met among those who work with the Juvenile Justice Affairs in a given county in any U.S. state.