Скачать или смотреть USA: FEARS THAT JUVENILE CRIME WILL INCREASE IN FUTURE

(23 Oct 1996) English/Nat

Crime...it's a word that strikes fear in the average American and both President Clinton and Bob Dole claim they can crack it.

But the next occupant of the White House is going to have to deal with a problem described as "the nightmare of the future" - juvenile crime.

Although the number of young people arrested for violent offences dropped last year, the size of the teen population is expected to soar by the turn of the century.

And as that population rises, the number of crimes committed is expected to increase, prompting fears the United States is sitting on a time bomb.

Saturday night. North side Miami. Officers are called to a suspected burglary.

The suspects are teenagers. They say they work in the building and have a key.

This time the story checks out. More often than not it doesn't.

Even though statistics show that overall the juvenile crime rate is dropping, especially for violent crime, there is little reflection of that on the streets.

Despite the efforts of officers like Costable (Eds: correct spelling) Pichirilo, the perception is that things are as bad as they always have been.

And the future is not looking good.

The number of children in the teen population is expected to increase by 20 percent by the year 2005, and with that increase a surge in crime.

That's little comfort to the owners of this store. They are armed for their own protection.

So far they have not had to use their guns.

But it is juveniles that give them the most problems.

SOUNDBITE:
You got a kid coming in here, if I refuse to sell him for instance a packet of cigarettes or a Heineken, they gonna get all mad and start swearing, start cussing and say they got the right, we can do this, we can do that, the law doesn't mean nothing to us. I been to jail once, why can't I be in jail again.
SUPER CAPTION: Sam Ettayem, Store worker

SOUNDBITE:
''How far pregnant are you...3 months and you are still smoking crack? Don't you care about your kid?"
SUPER CAPTION: Costable Pichirilo

Officer Pichirilo stops a suspected drug addict. The suspect has nothing on her.

Nationally the number of teenage drug arrests is on the increase; up by more than 137 per cent in the last four years.

This time the suspect is let off with a warning.

SOUNDBITE:
"You are lucky that the bottle is empty, it has no residue, right now it's a simple bottle."
SUPER CAPTION: Costable Pichirilo

If the medical textbooks had been right, nine year old Judy McCollum should be dead.

She was shot through the head while playing outside her home - an innocent victim caught in the crossfire of a violent love triangle.

Judy may, just may, walk again. The suspects are thought to be teenagers.

SOUNDBITE:
I am very angry..they need to do something about these young kids with guns, cos all they doing is hurting kids. They need to do something about it, they need to take away the guns. No child should be able to carry a weapon.
SUPER CAPTION: Cynthia McCollum, Daughter shot in head

SOUNDBITE:
"Years ago we used to, er, just being on the scene would give them a little fear, they don't fear us any longer. They know we can't do anything to them. Recently we had a suspect who was in a stolen car, high-speed chase, we ended up apprehending him and he says let's get going, the sooner I get down, the sooner I get out. He says I can do the 160 days on my head."
SUPER CAPTION: Deputy Sheriff Dennis Wise, Broward County

Judge Thomas Petersen has been involved in the juvenile justice system for more than 30 years.










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