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- e - tenet . age ‘eal! d DISTRICT sonora OFFICE ‘Edmund GPBrown, District Attorney ~entecgeeet 31009 PORT - Be (o) RIME PREVENTION DEPARTMENT. or fo: The Honorable Roger D. Lapham, Mayor of San Francisco ' The creation of a Crime Prevention Department in this . office in January, 1944, was an innovation. . come eriticisms were offered that such activity was not : within the scope of the duties of a District Attorney; thatthe is‘a-"~ :* law enforcement officer and. should ‘confine himself to. the enforcement: ’" of the laws and the prosecution of crime. I submit, howaver;’ that x -.éa District Attorney's office must concern itself with incipient. :: l‘orime, and that activity by a District A ttorney in the field of erime prevention is mandatorye . eee” at This office and this Department therefore particularly .. interested itself in obtaining complete knowledge of all phases of this City's juvenile crime prevention program and in actively. supporting this program with every facility of the office. Fhisa* Les report is designed to acquaint you with this program and these acti~ vities carried on by various agencies and groups in the commnitye: > It 14s-our purpose to actively assist in coordinating this work. to- the fullest extent. possible. . - This Department also investigated and studied the background and character of first offenders, especially those immediately. beyond. the juvenile stage, and assisted in their rehabilitation, =". JUVENILE CRIME PREVENTION: An ever~ rising tide ‘of juvenile delinquency throughout A merica Ts today threatening to engulf home, the school, the welfare agencies of the nation. ; ‘The situation not only is serious, 4t is critical, and. a merits the attention of everyone concerned with the future of Amerioae - Our investigation disclosed that the juvenile crime preve tion program in San Francisco is an active and vigorous one. © Great”: *. {ndustry, ingenuity and effort are being poured into it. Ten official. ’ departments or commissions and forty-five private agencies or organi~ gations ara-diragtly engaged in fighting guvenile. delinguenesy. ~ —_ Statistics at best are aifficult to obtain or to evaluate-- meaning little or nothing if standing alone--but I foel it:is ‘safe . to scy that this concontrated activity accounts for our juvenile : delinquency rate being only one percent hore in this oity. ‘) out, of 185,500 children under eighteen years of age in San Franc1sco,- approximately 1,800 cases each year, (official and unofficial) ‘are attended to by the Juvenile Court. This inoludes not only major: crimes but also minor violations (not traffic) and "wnofficial®-casesi . ial Age NEA Ce DOTA Tots oe Te Be TE eS “ . RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DISTRICT _ ATTORNEY AND JUVENILE: This : office canne® deal officially with juvenile delinquents. a cept in, _ : ; d ; rare instances, minors under eighteen who have committed orimes are: , i. not prosecuted by. the D istrict Attorney. Thoir cages, by- Law. must cy A handled by the Juyenile Probation Department through - the: Suvenil L -°. Court. EurthermSre, the District Attorney's office /has not tho | é facilities to direct corrective programs over along: period: of: yea! ‘ a situation which properly limita the field within gh we 4 “Ns, 8+ Mie department of the District Attorne avor =: ¥- emphasize orime preventione.” Deputies address youth g - yaa clubs and girlst clubs. In our talks, Ahe eordid, unglamorous side | © -of crime 18 portrayed, the’ "crime does- not pny" idea is pictured with* stories of actyal cases. The damaging, injurious effeots of not.” 2 - “playing the @;of life" during minority, -is strossede ~ Ty