Stoneleigh Fellow and Philadelphia Inquirer journalist Samantha Melamed interviewed Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel about his new plan to stop arresting young people accused of first-time, low-level offenses.
Starting on Monday, Philadelphia police will stop arresting kids who are accused of first-time, low-level offenses, and instead will send them to a police diversion program that aims to address misbehavior without drawing youth into the juvenile justice system.
The offenses — including disorderly conduct, shoplifting, vandalism, and assaults without significant injuries, plus some more serious charges involving children under 13 — are ones that almost certainly would have been funneled into diversion programs later in the court process.
Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said his hope is to spare children the trauma of being arrested, handcuffed, and booked, while creating alternative mechanisms to address the root causes of their behaviors. Youth who are arrested, he said, will still be processed through central intake at Philadelphia’s Juvenile Assessment Center, known as the JAC, a facility he previously had said would close.
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