PEORIA, Ill. (25 News) – Some leaders of Peoria County law enforcement think the Juvenile Court Act of 1987 could use updating to fit the kind of crimes kids are committing today.
The Juvenile Court Act of 1987 lays the groundwork for youth moving through the justice system. 25 News spoke to Peoria County State’s Attorney Jodi Hoos, who says crime among young people is increasing, and the act doesn’t apply well to the more serious crimes being committed.
“I don’t know what the answer is or what the solution is, but I think when it comes to violent juvenile offenders, we have to have a complete restructuring of the Juvenile Court Act, because it just wasn’t built for those individuals,” Hoos says.
According to the Peoria Police Department’s 2024 annual report, juvenile crime rose 15 percent last year in the city, with some of the most common crimes being simple assault, burglary, damage to property, and weapons violations.
The Peoria County courts also report an 84 percent increase in juveniles with three or more cases in the court system since 2020.
Peoria County Sheriff Chris Watkins agrees that crimes among young people are becoming more serious, and the age of criminals committing crimes keeps dropping.
“I really do think that’s the gap, repercussions for a juvenile, especially the 16 and 17-year-olds,” Watkins says. “We get the 13 and 14-year-olds, but we’re starting to see it younger and younger.”
Watkins says the Juvenile Court Act, nearly 40 years old, dictates how juveniles are treated in custody, when law enforcement can arrest a juvenile, and how children move through the court system.
Watkins says on July 1, Illinois’ scoring system used to determine whether a juvenile can be detained was amended, adding that he thinks it will make it harder to hold a juvenile in a detention center.
“We had a juvenile break into a car dealership, steal a car, and get in a high speed chase with our deputies,” Watkins says. “We found the juvenile, detained him, but he didn’t score out to go to the juvenile detention center. Two nights later, he breaks into a gun store, steals guns.”
The sheriff says the law can be a point of frustration when they can’t detain a juvenile after an offense, and then that young person gets in more trouble soon after. Watkins says he believes some young offenders need to face longer repercussions to avoid re-offending.
“Sometimes there are a couple of bad apples that need to have that pause and [get] those resources while they’re in that facility,” Watkins says. “If not, they’re just going to keep committing those crimes. You’ve got to have the pause.”
Watkins says the goal is to always help young people and keep them out of the system. He says he praises the youth resources in Peoria for doing a great job of helping youth in trouble.
Though the statewide criminal justice system is complicated, Watkins says he believes changes to how young people are released from jail could help some kids from re-offending.
“Similar to like no cash bail where the serious offenses might be getting kept, it’s those minor offenses that affect a lot of victims out there,” Watkins said.
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