New Resource:  Law Enforcement’s Leadership Role in Juvenile Justice Reform: Actionable 
Recommendations for Practice & Policy

When a young person gets in trouble with the law, oftentimes arrest, court referral, and detention run counter to public safety by making it more likely that young person will reoffend.  IACP’s National Summit on Law Enforcement Leadership in Juvenile Justice drew attention to the often untapped potential of law enforcement executives to improve their agencies’ response to young people and to serve as credible voices for “smart on crime” juvenile justice reforms in their communities and beyond. 

The summit report, Law Enforcement’s Leadership Role in Juvenile Justice Reform: Actionable Recommendations for Practice & Policy, sets forth 33 recommendations for concrete actions that law enforcement leaders can take in collaboration with partners at the local, state, and national levels. 

IACP convened the national summit with support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation as part of a multiyear initiative to advance law enforcement leadership in juvenile justice.  The summit brought together a multidisciplinary group of 90 participants that included law enforcement executives and officers at various levels, judges, prosecutors, public defenders, young people, parents, policymakers, researchers, mental health service providers, and a range of other juvenile justice stakeholders from across the country. 

The 33 summit recommendations are divided into eight thematic areas:

1. Making Juvenile Justice a Priority within Law Enforcement Agencies
2. Building Partnerships Among Law Enforcement, Youth, and Their Families
3. Collaboration and Information Sharing
4. Promoting Alternatives to Arrest, Court Referral and Detention
5. Data Collection and Expanding Evidence-Based and Promising Initiatives
6. Pathways to School Completion
7. Responding to Youth with Behavioral Health Conditions and Trauma Histories
8. Amplifying Law Enforcement’s Advocacy on Juvenile Justice Reform

For more information please contact Sr. Program Manager Aviva Kurash at [email protected].