Police Dispositions of Juvenile Offenders: The Problem of Measurement and a Study of Philadelphia Data

Abstract

5W HAT OFFENSES are worthy of attention by the police? Who should be apprehended, warned, placed on record, or formally arrested? These questions are of no small importance when one tries to assess the extent of law-violating behavior, its nature and change over time, and its variation from place to place according to local definitions and customs. Police discretion or wisdom is a paramount factor in the sorting out process and in the implementation of the public consensus. Depending upon which system of law and police operation prevails, irrespective of the similarity of one's behavior with that of persons elsewhere, an individual might or might not be identified and treated as a delinquent or offender. Obviously, in a scientific sense this circumstance confounds the problem of measurement, comparability, and factual relevance of the data which criminologists must use to develop understanding of their field.