Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission - Policies and Procedures of the Illinois Juvenile Justice System lyrics

I. Incident Involvement in the juvenile justice system begins with an incident in which there is an alleged violation of criminal law or local or municipal ordinance.While most young people violate the law at some point during their adolescence, most incidents often involve minor violations such as truancy, curfew violations, littering, and speeding. A very small proportion of juveniles is actually arrested and enters the juvenile justice system each year. In 2008, about 3 percent of all youth ages 10 to 16 in Illinois were arrested (31,731 arrested 10- to 16-year olds of 1,254,609 in the population), according to the Authority's Criminal History Records Information (CHRI) ad hoc datasets. Youth may enter police custody in a few ways. A police officer may observe a violation of the law or ordinance, have probable cause to believe a violation has occurred, or be called to take a youth into police custody. A police officer has discretion regarding what action he or she takes. A youth may also be taken into police custody on a warrant—an order issued by a judge authorizing the arrest and detention of an individual. Judges issue warrants for the arrest of juveniles who, based on probable cause, have allegedly committed a criminal offense, and when individuals fail to appear in court or perform court-mandated activities. In Illinois, juveniles arrested on warrants are typically detained in a temporary juvenile detention facility, discussed later in this report. Youth also may enter the juvenile justice system through referrals by probation officers, truancy officers, and other outside entities.