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The Disproportionate Overrepresentation of Minority Youth in ...

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133<br />

I really don’t th<strong>in</strong>k that they’re more serious <strong>in</strong> nature. . .Just that number<br />

<strong>of</strong> crimes are greater.<br />

…watched more closely. . . more black kids get<br />

a police compla<strong>in</strong>t...<br />

Yes, but I th<strong>in</strong>k it’s due to socio-economic factors.<br />

I wouldn’t say more serious. . .yes they are <strong>in</strong>volved <strong>in</strong> more del<strong>in</strong>quent<br />

act.<br />

I th<strong>in</strong>k there seems to be more <strong>of</strong> them committ<strong>in</strong>g crimes and there seems<br />

to be more group activity crimes l<strong>in</strong>ked to more m<strong>in</strong>orities than for white<br />

kids go<strong>in</strong>g out and shoplift<strong>in</strong>g on their own. A group <strong>of</strong> kids, m<strong>in</strong>ority<br />

kids, go<strong>in</strong>g out and committ<strong>in</strong>g a burglary as opposed to one kid go<strong>in</strong>g out<br />

and do<strong>in</strong>g a burglary. I don’t know if m<strong>in</strong>orities commit more serious<br />

crimes or not. Right new we have a phenomenon <strong>of</strong> gang activity <strong>in</strong> Sioux<br />

City. I th<strong>in</strong>k a lot <strong>of</strong> times if a m<strong>in</strong>ority kid comes <strong>in</strong> with a particular<br />

dress style they are pegged as a potential gangster. Whereas a supervisor’s<br />

daughter comes <strong>in</strong> the same way and nobody th<strong>in</strong>ks twice about it.<br />

Distrust <strong>of</strong> the System<br />

Officers were also asked about m<strong>in</strong>orities cooperativeness with the juvenile<br />

justice system and if they believed there were differences between whites and m<strong>in</strong>orities<br />

<strong>in</strong> terms <strong>of</strong> trust<strong>in</strong>g the system. Three closed ended questions were asked to tap these<br />

dimensions (Tables 6, 7). Decision makers responded that blacks may be more distrustful<br />

(83 percent answered most <strong>of</strong> time/sometimes) but generally do not have poorer attitudes<br />

than whites (39 percent responded most <strong>of</strong> time to sometimes). Sixty-one percent<br />

answered that m<strong>in</strong>orities almost never to never have poorer attitudes. Personnel also<br />

<strong>in</strong>dicated that blacks are not less likely than whites to deny guilt (66 percent responded

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