Detention

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), Serving Children, Families, and Communities

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Detention

Q:	Do trends in the number of detained cases vary by offense?
A:	Increases in the number of cases involving detention occurred in three of the four offense categories, with person offense cases showing the sharpest increase between 1985 and 2005.

Detained delinquency cases by offense, 1985-2005

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Juvenile courts sometimes hold youth in secure detention facilities during court processing of their case. Depending on the State's detention laws, the court may decide detention is necessary to ensure the juvenile's appearance at subsequent court hearings, to protect the community from the juvenile, or to secure the juvenile's own safety. Detention may also be ordered for the purpose of evaluating the juvenile.
The number of person offense cases in which youth were detained increased 144% between 1985 and 2005. There was an 110% increase among drug offense cases, and a 108% increase among public order offense cases. In comparison, the number of property cases detained declined 22% during that period.
Compared with 1985, the 2005 the detention caseload contained greater proportions of person (31% versus 19%), drugs (10% versus 7%), and public order (32% versus 23%) offense cases and a smaller proportion of property (27% versus 51%) offense cases.

Internet citation: OJJDP Statistical Briefing Book. Online. Available: http://ojjdp.ncjrs.gov/ojstatbb/court/qa06302.asp?qaDate=2005. Released on September 12, 2008.

Adapted from Puzzanchera, C. and Sickmund, M. Juvenile Court Statistics 2005. [Forthcoming]. Washington, D.C.: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.