An Overview of Racial Disproportionality in Juvenile Arrests and Offenses in South Carolina
South Carolina Department of Public Safety
Office of Justice Programs
Statistical AnalysisCenter
May 2012
This project was funded by an agreement with the Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) for a portion of the work originally awarded to JRSA from the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Points of view or opinions contained within this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the Justice Research and Statistics Association or the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Reviewed and approved by South Carolina Department of Public Safety, Office of Justice Programs Institutional Review Board #1 – IRB00004083.
1
Table of Contents
Introduction
Juvenile Population...... 1
Juvenile Arrests...... 7
Juvenile Offenders...... 15
Indicators of Racial Disproportionality...... 21
Summary...... 38
Sources...... 41
1
Introduction
The problem of race and the criminal justice system is not only one of immense complexity, but one that carries great importance for everyone. The belief that laws are enforced fairly and impartially is essential to the legitimacy of all civic and legal institutions. Unfortunately, this belief has not always been compatible with historical or contemporary reality, a problem which requires continual examination of policies and practices. This report attempts to examine a very narrow, yet vital, segment of the criminal justice process, racial disproportionality among juvenile arrest and offense rates.
The purpose of this report was to demonstrate the utility of South Carolina’s incident based crime data, the South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System, as an analytical tool to address matters of policy relevance. Though the scope of the report is narrow, the importance and relevance of the subject matter is undeniable and hopefully the policy implications of the findings will be worthwhile. As is the case with any such report it is important to understand the limitations of the data analysis and to understand the findings within the context of those limitations.
We wish to express our thanks and appreciation to the sheriffs, chiefs of police, state and local law enforcement officers as well as the administrative staff whose hard work in gather, reviewing and submitting crime incident data to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) made publication of this report possible. It is also important to note that publications such as this would not be possible without the ongoing and active assistance of SLED’s CrimeInformationCenter. The report itself is a product of the South Carolina Department of Public Safety, Office of Justice Programs, Statistical Analysis Center; funded by the Justice Research and Statistics Association (JRSA) from an award to JRSA from the Bureau of Justice Statistics
1
An Overview of Racial Disproportionality in Juvenile Arrestsand Offenses in South Carolina
Minority racial populations, specifically Blacks, accounted for the majority of adult inmates (SCDC, 2012), the majority of community corrections admissions(SCDPPPS, 2012) andthe majority of adult arrests in South Carolina (SLED;2008, 2009). Minority overrepresentation is no less of a problem in the juvenile justice system. Black juveniles represent the majority of the referrals to the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice (SCDJJ, 2012) as well as the majority of the juvenilesarrested statewide (SLED;2008, 2009). Unfortunately, effortsto systematically examine the problem of disproportionate minority contact with the criminal justice system in South Carolina have been sparse. However one previouseffort has provided some worthwhile insights, examiningracial disproportionality at specific points in the juvenile justice process: the decision to detain juveniles prior to adjudication, the decision to prosecute juveniles, the decision to commit juveniles for evaluation and the decision to commit juveniles for long term incarceration (Motes, 2003). However a particularly important decision pointin the juvenile justice process was not included in that analysis, that ofjuvenilearrests. The purpose of this report is to provide a descriptive overview concerning the nature and extent of racial disproportionality among juveniles for both the arrest process and reported criminal offenses. This report focused on juvenile arrests and offenses throughoutSouth Carolina during 2008 and 2009.
Juvenile Population
In keeping with the statutorily defined age of adult criminal responsibility in South Carolina of seventeen years of age, juveniles were defined as beingchildren sixteen years of age or younger. Using this statutory definition, juveniles accounted for 22.3% of South Carolina’s population in 2008 and 2009. The ten years of age and younger category accounted for 65.3% of South Carolina’s juvenile population.
Juvenile Population by Age
Age Group20082009
10 & younger657,764666,435
1156,13457,397
1257,06256,664
1358,03157,620
1458,62458,627
1561,01859,230
1662,17061,509
Total1,010,8031,017,482
Source: ORS, Population estimates.
It is important to note that census estimates measure race and ethnicity(Hispanic or Non-Hispanic) separately. For the purpose of this study, those categories were combined and modified to create an additional racial category of Hispanic. This category included any juvenile with an ethnic categorization of Hispanic, regardless of the racial category. Consequently, when reference is made to race throughout this report,juveniles identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Native American or White were alsocategorized as being of Non-Hispanic ethnicity. Juveniles identifiedas being of Hispanic race were categorized as being a member of one of those races in the census estimate and of Hispanic ethnicity. For example, a juvenile who had beenidentified as being both White and Hispanic in the population estimates, for the purpose of this report,wasreported as being of Hispanic race. A juvenile identified as being White and Non-Hispanic was reported as being White. Using this modified racial categorization, Whites were the largest racial group in the juvenile population in 2008 and 2009, accounting for 57.8% of the total. Blacks accounted for 32.7% of the two year juvenile population, Hispanics accounted for 7.4%, Asian/Pacific Islanders accounted for 1.6% and Native Americans accounted for 0.4%. Particularly noteworthy is the increase of 5,380 in the estimated number of Hispanic juveniles from 2008 to 2009, an increase of 7.4% over the course of a single year.
Juvenile Population by Race
Race20082009
Asian/Pacific Islander16,02916,789
Black332,365331,158
Hispanic72,75878,138
Native American4,1544,204
White585,497587,193
Total1,010,8031,017,482
Source: ORS, Population estimates.
The majority of South Carolina’s juvenile population was male in 2008 and 2009. Males accounted for 51.2% of the juvenile population; females accounted for 48.8% of the state’s juvenile population.
Juvenile Population by Sex
Sex20082009
Female493,528496,289
Male517,275521,193
Total1,010,8031,017,482
Source: ORS, Population estimates.
White males constituted the single largest race/sex category accounting for 29.7% of the state’s 2008 and 2009 juvenile population, followed by White females which accounted for 28.1%.
Juvenile Population by Race/Sex
Race/Sex20082009
Asian/Pacific Islander
Female8,0278,393
Male8,0028,396
Black
Female163,674162,842
Male168,691168,316
Hispanic
Female35,17337,679
Male37,58540,459
Native American
Female2,0432,072
Male2,1112,132
White
Female284,611285,303
Male300,886301,890
Total 1,010,8031,017,482
Source: ORS, Population estimates.
As much of the disproportionality analysis centers on comparisons of White juveniles to the combination of all other racial categories of juveniles, atwo-part racial category was created for those comparisons. Aracial minority category labeled Minority consisting of Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic and Native American juveniles was created for the comparison to White juveniles. The Minority category accounted for42.2% of the state’s total juvenile population. Black juveniles accounted for 77.6% of the Minority juvenile population.
Juvenile Population by Racial Category
Racial Category20082009
Minority425,306430,289
White585,497587,193
Total1,010,8031,017,482
Source: ORS, Population estimates.
White males were the largest racial/sex category accounting for 29.7% of the juvenile population in 2008 and 2009. White females were the second largest racial/sex category accounting for 28% of the population followed by Minority males (21.6%) and Minority females (20.7%).
Juvenile Population by Racial Category/Sex
Racial Category/Sex20082009
Minority
Female208,917210,986
Male216,389219,303
White
Female284,611285,303
Male300,886301,890
Total1,010,8031,017,482
Source: ORS, Population estimates.
South Carolina has a total of 46 counties representing a mix of urban, suburban and rural areas, with juvenile populations that ranged from less than 2,000 to more than 100,000. GreenvilleCountyhad the largest juvenile population with an average of 104,146 during 2008 and 2009. McCormickCounty had the smallest juvenile population with a two year average population of 1,399. Although the state’s juvenile population increased from 2008 to 2009, 22 counties experienced a decline in juvenile population during that time frame. Among the counties experiencing a decrease in juvenile population, all but one had a juvenile population of 20,000 or less.
Counties by Juvenile Population
County20082009County20082009
Abbeville5,3585,261Greenwood15,85215,913
Aiken34,18433,974Hampton4,9915,009
Allendale2,3122,258Horry50,61451,343
Anderson41,84542,188Jasper5,5475,595
Bamberg3,2363,171Kershaw14,07014,190
Barnwell5,5335,430Lancaster17,04417,275
Beaufort31,66732,159Laurens15,01414,840
Berkeley40,30940,925Lee4,2434,080
Calhoun2,8702,857Lexington58,92659,984
Charleston70,95271,289McCormick1,4211,377
Cherokee12,61112,551Marion8,0927,854
Chester7,4617,319Marlboro6,0455,976
Chesterfield10,1229,999Newberry8,4328,575
Clarendon6,9046,727Oconee14,40214,448
Colleton9,2659,056Orangeburg20,55420,148
Darlington15,43915,167Pickens23,61123,615
Dillon8,0638,124Richland82,22083,118
Dorchester32,39332,866Saluda4,1934,152
Edgefield5,0715,066Spartanburg65,20965,834
Fairfield5,1565,086Sumter25,55325,462
Florence31,80432,063Union5,9195,890
Georgetown12,82812,712Williamsburg7,5327,344
Greenville103,173105,118York52,76354,094
Source: ORS, Population estimates.
LeeCounty had the highest percentage of minority juvenile population in 2008 and 2009 with 74.7% of the county’s juvenile population being Minority. PickensCounty had the lowest percentage Minority population with 15%. WilliamsburgCounty had the highest percentage of Black children with 71.3% of the juvenile population being Black; PickensCounty had the lowest percentage of Blacks in the juvenile population with 8.3%. SaludaCounty had the highest percentage of Hispanics in the juvenile population in 2008 and 2009 with 25.9%; McCormickCounty and WilliamsburgCounty had the lowest percentage of Hispanic juveniles with 1.4%.
Counties by Percentage of Juvenile Population Black, Hispanic and Minority
2008 and 2009
CountyBlackHispanicMinorityCountyBlackHispanic Minority
Abbeville31.5%1.7%33.3%Greenwood35.2%9.5%46.6%
Aiken30.8%6.7%38.7%Hampton59.3%3.6%63.3%
Allendale80.4%4.1%85.0%Horry19.7%9.2%31.0%
Anderson20.3%4.0%25.6%Jasper44.1%22.7%67.5%
Bamberg64.7%2.5%67.6%Kershaw28.5%5.0%34.4%
Barnwell51.5%2.8%55.4%Lancaster28.5%6.9%36.5%
Beaufort24.4%19.1%45.3%Laurens27.6%7.0%35.3%
Berkeley28.9%7.4%39.0%Lee69.2%5.2%74.7%
Calhoun47.6%4.2%52.1%Lexington19.3%7.4%28.8%
Charleston36.9%7.7%46.6%McCormick57.5%1.4%59.9%
Cherokee24.4%5.8%31.0%Marion62.5%4.0%67.2%
Chester43.6%2.7%47.2%Marlboro55.5%1.8%62.8%
Chesterfield39.6%5.0%45.7%Newberry35.0%16.9%52.3%
Clarendon53.7%5.5%60.2%Oconee10.2%7.6%18.4%
Colleton45.5%3.6%50.4%Orangeburg67.1%2.8%71.2%
Darlington49.3%2.0%52.0%Pickens8.3%5.2%15.0%
Dillon52.1%5.4%61.0%Richland53.2%6.2%62.5%
Dorchester29.3%5.6%37.3%Saluda26.9%25.9%53.0%
Edgefield37.6%5.0%43.1%Spartanburg23.5%9.1%35.8%
Fairfield64.0%2.9%67.3%Sumter50.3%4.6%56.5%
Florence47.2%3.1%52.1%Union36.4%1.5%38.3%
Georgetown40.2%5.2%46.1%Williamsburg71.3%1.4%73.4%
Greenville20.9%11.9%35.9%York22.8%7.0%32.7%
Source: ORS, Population Estimates.
Juvenile Arrests
The South Carolina Incident Based Reporting System (SCIBRS) is maintained by the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and provided the basis of all arrest, offense and offender information used in this report. SCIBRS requires that an arrest be recorded on all persons processed by arrest, apprehension, warrant service or Uniform Traffic Ticket for committing offenses within the reporting jurisdiction. SCIBRS specifically requires reporting and including as an arrest, not only juveniles who are taken into custody but also those who are stopped and merely warned and/or released without being formally charged. The only noted exception to this rule involves routine traffic offenses; those situations are not required to be reported as an arrest. All arrest rates are expressed in terms of the number of arrests per 10,000 juveniles, or for the particular juvenile sub-population of interest.
Demographic Characteristics
There were a total of 33,024 juvenile arrests for 2008 and 2009, accounting for 7.6% of all arrests during that time period. Sixteen year olds accounted for 33.4% of juvenile arrests from 2008 to 2009.
Juvenile Arrests by Age
Age 20082009Total
10 & younger219190409
11425385810
121,0031,0042,007
132,1911,7183,909
143,2372,9286,165
154,6304,0488,678
165,7705,27611,046
Total17,47515,54933,024
Source: SLED, SCIBRS.
Juvenile arrestees were predominately male, males accounted for 68.5% of the juveniles arrested in 2008 and 2009.
Juvenile Arrests by Sex
20082009Total
Female5,5064,89410,400
Male11,96910,65522,624
Total17,47515,54933,024
Source: SLED, SCIBRS.
As was the case with the census population estimates, SCIBRS categorizes juvenile arrestees both by racial group (Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Native American and White) and ethnicity (Hispanic and Non-Hispanic). The same process was used with the SCIBRS data to classify juvenile arrestees: a racial category of Hispanic was created and includes any juvenile arrestee who was identified as Hispanic in the ethnicity category, regardless of their race. Juveniles identified as Non-Hispanic were categorized according to their race. As a result, juveniles racially categorized as being Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Native American or White and of Non-Hispanic ethnicity were categorized according to race; all juveniles identified as being of Hispanic ethnicity were categorized as being of Hispanic race regardless of their original racial classification. Using that definition, Black juveniles accounted for 58.5% of all juvenile arrests for 2008 and 2009, White juveniles accounted for 37.6% of juvenile arrests, Hispanics accounted for 3.6% of juvenile arrests while Asian/Pacific Islander and Native American juveniles each accounted for less than 1% of juvenile arrests.
Juvenile Arrests by Race
20082009Total
Asian/Pacific Islander403878
Black10,1479,02519,172
Hispanic6235661,189
Native American19928
White6,5685,75212,320
Total17,39715,39032,787
Note: 237 juvenile arrestees were missing either race and/or ethnicity or were of unknown race or ethnicity and could not be classified.
Source: SLED, SCIBRS.
Racial minority group members (Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, Hispanic and Native American) accounted for 62.4% of juvenile arrests during 2008 and 2009. Whites accounted for 37.6% of juvenile arrests.
Juvenile Arrests by Racial Category
20082009Total
Minority10,8299,63820,467
White6,5685,75212,320
Total17,39715,39032,787
Note: 237 juvenile arrestees were missing either race and/or ethnicity or were of unknown race or ethnicity and could not be classified.
Source: SLED, SCIBRS.
Minority males accounted for 43.1% of juvenile arrests in 2008 and 2009. White males accounted for 25.5%, racial minority females accounted for 19.4% and White females accounted for 12.1%.
Juvenile Arrests by Racial Category/Sex
20082009Total
Racial Minority
Female3,3752,9756,350
Male7,4546,66314,117
White
Female2,1001,8663,966
Male4,4683,8868,354
Total17,39715,39032,787
Source: SLED, SCIBRS.
Arrest Offenses and Associated Circumstances
SCIBRS records up to three offenses per arrest event. For the purpose of this report, a hierarchical categorization of arrest offenses consisting of seven categories was created. At the top of the scale was the category of serious violent offenses. The serious violent offense category included murder, rape, forcible sodomy, sexual assault with an object, forcible fondling, robbery and aggravated assault. If one of the preceding offenses was reported among the three arrest offenses, then the arrest was categorized as a serious violent offense. The second ranking offense in the hierarchy was weapons offenses. If a serious violent offense was not reported and a weapons law violation offense was reported, then the arrest offense was categorized as a weapons offense. The third ranking offense category in the hierarchy was lesser serious violent offenses. If neither a serious violent offense nor a weapons offense was reported among the three offenses and an offense of kidnapping, simple assault or intimidation was reported, then the arrest offense was categorized as a lesser violent offense. If neither a serious violent offense, a weapons offense nor a lesser violent offense was reported, and an offense of larceny, embezzlement, fraud, burglary, motor vehicle theft or a stolen property offense was reported, then the arrest offense was classified as a property offense. If neither a serious violent offense, a weapons offense, a lesser violent offense nor a property offense was reported and a drug or drug equipment offense was reported, then the arrest offense was categorized as a drug offense. If neither a serious violent, a weapons offense, a lesser violent offense, a property offense nor a drug offense was reported and an offense of incorrigible child, truancy or runaway was reported, then the arrest offense was classified as a status offense. Finally, if a serious violent offense, weapons offense, property offense, drug offense or status offense was not reported, then the arrest offense was categorized as being in the all other offense category.
The other offenses category was the single largest offense category, accounting for 32.8% of all arrests in 2008 and 2009. The arrests for property offenses category was the second largest offense category, accounting for 25.9% of the total, followed by lesser violent offenses which accounted for 19.2% of all juvenile arrests. Serious violent offenses accounted for 5.9% of juvenile arrests during the two year period.
Juvenile Arrests by Hierarchical Offense Category
20082009Total
Serious Violent1,0498981,947
Weapons6305041,134
Lesser Violent3,2883,0576,345
Property4,4094,1438,552
Drugs1,4691,4092,878
Status7455831,328
Other Offenses5,8854,95510,840
Total17,47515,54933,024
Source: SCIRBS, SLED.
Disorderly conduct was the specific offense most frequently reported within the other offenses category, followed by all other (a specific SCIBRS offense code). The hierarchy was constructed so that juveniles with a status offense and an offense in the other offense category would be categorized as a status offender. This was done to ensure that juvenile offenders arrested for a status offense and relatively minor other offenses would be identified as status offenders. As a result, it may represent something of an overestimate of the number of status offenders; however this definition serves to ensure that any status offenders who were charged with additional minor offenses would be identified as a status offender.
Other Offenses by Specific Arrest Offense
2008 and 2009
OffenseNumberPercent
All Other2,95825.5%
Disorderly Conduct4,73740.9%
Liquor Laws7446.4%
Other1,1099.6%
Trespassing6495.6%
Vandalism1,39612.0%
Total11,593100.0%
Notes: The offense category all other is a specific code. The number of other offenses in this table exceeds the total of other offenses in the preceding table because multiple arrest offenses are recorded in SCIBRS.
Source: SLED, SCIBRS.
SCIBRS identifies how an arrestee was apprehended. The initial contact of the law enforcement officer with the arrestee was classified into one of three categories: on-sight arrests, summoned/cited or arrested on the basis of a pre-existing warrant. On-sight arrests include arrests that take place without a warrant or previous incident report and typically involve an officer arriving while the incident is in progress or shortly thereafter. Summoned/cited includes situations where the arrestee is released at the scene using a Uniform Traffic Ticket. Warrant arrests are the result of an officer coming into contact with a suspect already named in a warrant or incident report. Both on-sight arrests and warrant arrests involve the law enforcement officer taking the subject into some level of custody for a period of time.
On-sight arrests were the most frequently (63.2%) reported type of juvenile arrest in 2008 and 2009. Arrests based on pre-existing warrants accounted for 19.6% of juvenile arrests and uniform traffic tickets accounted for 17.2%.
Juveniles by Type of Arrest
Type Arrest20082009Total
On-Sight Arrests11,1229,59620,718
Uniform Traffic Ticket2,9252,7075,632
Warrant3,3503,0876,437
Total17,39715,39032,787
Source: SLED, SCIBRS.
SCIBRS collects information regarding the type of referralconcerning any arrestees 17 years of age or younger; i.e., how these cases were handled by the department of jurisdiction. Arrestees were classified either as having been handled internally within the department meaning they were taken into custody but released to parents, guardians, etc.; or they were classified as having been referred to another local, state or federal agency.
External referrals to other agencies accounted for 58.9% of the custody types reported for juveniles arrested in 2008 and 2009, 41.1 % of juveniles were handled internally.