1 1 2 3 4 5 INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHIEF OF POLICE 6 (IACP) SUMMIT ON YOUTH VIOLENCE 7 APRIL 25, 1996 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Sheraton National 16 900 Orme Street 17 Arlington, Virginia 22201 18 19 20 21 22 2 1 P R O C E E D I N G S 2 CHIEF WALCHAK: Thank you very much, 3 ladies and gentlemen. 4 While the IACP, through this summit, 5 is working hard to reduce youth violence in 6 America, that violence is not our concern 7 alone. 8 Another voice, in particular, over 9 the past many years, has been strong and clear 10 about the need to focus on our nation's youth 11 if we are to reduce crime and improve the 12 fabric of our communities. And that voice has 13 been Janet Reno's. 14 While taking on the role of our 15 nation's chief law enforcement officer, she has 16 held a strong vision about the true nature of 17 crime and the complexities of solving crime 18 problems in our country. 19 In particular, she has championed a 20 systemic community based approach to reducing 21 crime and violence in our cities and towns. 22 I am particularly impressed with her 3 1 recent work as chair of the Coordinating 2 Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 3 Prevention. 4 As we do our work here, we will no 5 doubt benefit immensely from the insights 6 contained in the Council's March 1966 report on 7 combating violence and delinquency, The 8 National Juvenile Justice Action Plan. 9 And you can rest assured that any 10 good work we do here will have the enlightened 11 support of the Attorney General and her staff. 12 We only need to look back at last year's summit 13 to confirm that observation. 14 Once we had published our 15 recommendations on reducing murder and violent 16 crime, the Attorney General publicly supported 17 our work and complimented us on what she 18 considered an excellent approach to this most 19 complex problem. 20 And if that weren't sufficient, 21 through her encouragement and direction, the 22 Bureau of Justice assistance, as Laurie 4 1 Robinson reported to us earlier -- 2 is now providing grants of 400,000 apiece to 3 the cities of Richmond, California, and 4 Richmond, Virginia, to implement the very 5 recommendations contained in that report. 6 It is clear to IACP that the Attorney 7 General of the United States is tremendously 8 supportive of local law enforcement and the 9 work we do with community leaders through our 10 annual summits. 11 It is my great pleasure and honor to 12 introduce the Honorable Janet Reno, Attorney 13 General of the United States of America. 14 General, welcome. 15 (Applause) 16 ATTORNEY GENERAL RENO: Thank you, 17 Chief. It is a real privilege to be here 18 because I have been so impressed with IACP's 19 actions on so many different fronts in the 20 three years that I have been here in Washington 21 serving as Attorney General. 22 You make reference to your work on 5 1 the murder summit. And I think that is a 2 classic example of good public policy, 3 hard-nose realism, and an action plan that I 4 think can make a difference. 5 It speaks volumes for the work that 6 your association is doing. It is an eloquent 7 testimony to what police chiefs and line 8 officers are doing around this country -- to 9 recognize the complexity of the fight against 10 crime, and to understand that it's not just 11 punishment, not just prevention, not just 12 policing, but that it is everybody coming 13 together. 14 You and the association set an 15 example for this whole country, and it is so 16 wonderful to be able to use those examples and 17 keep them coming. 18 It has been a real privilege for me, 19 for most of my adult life, to be able to work 20 with law enforcement. As some of you know, my 21 first summer job was in the Dade County 22 Sheriff's Office, and I never thought that I 6 1 would follow through as I have. But from that 2 beginning, I have seen so many examples of 3 police officers in action. 4 As I travel around the country, in 5 these three years, I've watched police officers 6 put their lives on the line -- indeed, give 7 their lives. I've watched them work with young 8 people. I've watched them make arrests. I've 9 watched them testify. 10 And in all their duties and all their 11 functions, they are indeed on the front lines of 12 this country. They are committed. They have a 13 sense of public service. They have a sense of 14 making their community a better place. 15 It is infectious and exciting. And, 16 President Clinton and I are just committed to 17 doing everything we can to support the 18 magnificent law enforcement officers of this 19 nation and the great work that they are doing. 20 I think perhaps I'm preaching to the 21 choir. I think I could probably sit down and 22 then go home and you all would continue to do a 7 1 wonderful job. I'm not sure that I have much 2 to add, because your approach is so, I think, 3 perfect. 4 But I would just like to summarize 5 the threads that I have seen over these last 6 years that I think are essential to addressing 7 the issue of youth violence. 8 I don't think I have to define the 9 problem. You know what it is, and that's the 10 reason you're here. 11 But where do we begin? I think, 12 clearly, we have got to start someplace, and 13 one place is to let our young people know that 14 they're going to be accountable. 15 Chief, a long time ago, 16 17 some of your officers came to me and 18 said, "Ms. Reno, we have to something about 19 these kids. They don't think anything is going to 20 happen to them in the juvenile justice system." 21 And we have got to fashion punishment 22 that's fair, firm, and fits the crime, that 8 1 people know that we mean business, know that 2 they will be held accountable, know that there 3 is no excuse for putting a gun up beside 4 somebody's head and hurting them. 5 But I think it is important for 6 police chiefs to continue to speak out beyond 7 the arena of the courtroom and into the 8 correction system and to support our 9 correctional officers who are doing such an 10 extraordinary job, oftentimes with very limited 11 resources, resources sufficient to deal with 12 violent, serious, youthful offenders. 13 We've got to let people know that we 14 need facilities for these youthful offenders. 15 Facilities that will provide security for the 16 community, facilities that will give them the 17 opportunity to complete educational 18 requirements, to develop job skills, and to 19 understand what it takes to live in a community 20 when they return. 21 We've got to let legislators and 22 others understand that you can't take a kid who 9 1 has been neglected most of his life and send 2 him off to a program for six months, and think 3 you're going to change him so that he can go 4 back to the community and be law-abiding. 5 We have got to let those that fund 6 these systems understand that it won't work if 7 we keep them in a appropriate facility for a 8 year, or the appropriate length of time, and 9 then send them back to the community without 10 after-care, without follow-up, without support 11 mechanisms in the community. 12 And so I think all of us have got to 13 join together in reaching beyond the policing 14 function to the correctional function and 15 supporting the great efforts that are underway 16 there. 17 I am so proud of the work that police 18 communities have done across this country. 19 Community policing is exciting. It takes 20 different forms. It adjusts to different 21 communities. It adjusts to different 22 neighborhoods. And that's what it's all about. 10 1 But there is something exciting 2 happening as a result of it. Police officers 3 are walking through the community with their 4 heads held high. They're walking through the 5 community as the ally of young people, as the 6 ally and partner of citizens who care. They 7 are the cutting edge, not of dividing 8 neighborhoods, but of bringing neighborhoods 9 together through policing, through caring, 10 through involvement. 11 And very recently, on a tragic day 12 that we learned of the crash in Bosnia, we were 13 prepared to have a program at the Department of 14 Justice on gangs and youth violence, and the 15 President was coming over. 16 One of the people that was there, a 17 young man who was going to introduce him, spent 18 a little time with me afterwards, after we had 19 to announce the tragedy. He was so touching. 20 He was so sensitive to the issues, and the 21 concerns, and the fears that we had. 22 But then he talked about the 11 1 difference that that police officer had made in 2 his life. A lieutenant who was committed to 3 policing, committed to improving his community. 4 He had written out his remarks in 5 which he was going to introduce the President. 6 And I sent a copy to the President, and it is 7 an eloquent testimony of the greatness of 8 police officers who care. 9 I'd like to diverge a moment. This 10 past weekend, Chief Walchak and I were in 11 Budapest, Hungary, for the dedication of the 12 International Law Enforcement Academy. 13 You're reminded when you hear 14 ministers of justice and police officers, and 15 people in the streets talk about these emerging 16 democracies, of how exciting it is to be alive 17 now with democracy flourishing across the 18 world. 19 But that Friday, I was in Oklahoma 20 City at the service memorializing the one year 21 anniversary of that tragedy. There was a 22 different excitement. There was a strength, a 12 1 courage, and a sense of accomplishment that 2 surrounded those victims and their survivors. 3 I get the same feeling from police 4 officers who are on the streets, who are making 5 a difference, who are reaching out and 6 involving citizens and caring. 7 And I just want to thank the officers 8 who do that day in and day out. They give us 9 all a sense of encouragement that we can make a 10 difference, that we can reduce violence, that 11 we can deal with the problem of youth crime in 12 this country. 13 I would like to suggest, then, as we 14 look at policing, as we look at the whole 15 problem of corrections, that you join with us, 16 with the States' Chief Justices in a pilot 17 project aimed at what I call "Community 18 Justice." Lori may have already spoken of it. 19 But just think of what we can do with 20 community police officers, a community court 21 situated in a high-crime area with significant 22 delinquency, community correctional officers, 13 1 who are working with the community police 2 Officers in a joint effort in after-care 3 programs, involving the schools in a real 4 community justice pilot project. 5 I have spoken with the National 6 Conference of State Chief Justices, who want to 7 know how they can involve the courts. A number 8 of courts have tried to develop this concept of 9 community justice. And if we took community 10 policing, community justice, community 11 corrections and started to forge a real network 12 that affected high-crime areas, we might really 13 be able to make a difference. And so I look 14 forward to working with you, if you think well 15 of that idea. 16 I looked at 17 too many pre-sentence investigations of 16 and 18 17 year-olds, who I had just adjudicated as 19 delinquents. I could see steps along the way 20 for those children where we could have 21 intervened, to have made a difference in their 22 life, to have kept them away from delinquency, 14 1 to have gotten them onto the straight and 2 narrow a long time ago. 3 I also realized then that we never 4 have enough dollars, particularly in times of 5 budget cuts, to save all those kids, if we 6 waited each time until they were adjudicated as 7 delinquent. We have to start earlier. 8 It is so exciting to see you 9 recognizing that by having teachers here, by 10 having community people here, by having young 11 people here. 12 Chief, it was one of the nicest 13 things to walk in and to see young people, 14 because they have so many good ideas about what 15 we can do. They're looking at it from a 16 common-sense perspective. And I also 17 discovered that they are not afraid to speak 18 out. 19 But if we can pursue the concept of 20 community justice, think of what we can do. 21 And what so many of your communities are doing 22 as they use community policing for the 15 1 foundation of reaching out to the schools. 2 Another valuable resource are Parks 3 and Recreation professionals, the National 4 Association of Parks and Recreation 5 professionals, is looking at children at risk 6 as one of its major initiatives. 7 Think of what we can do if police 8 officers regularly link with Parks and 9 Recreation specialists, who are trained in 10 addressing this issue. Again, these links can 11 make such an extraordinary difference and, 12 then, if the schools link with the parks, link 13 with the business community. 14 I've been to Harry Shorenstein's 15 community, to Fort Caroline 16 Elementary, and had the opportunity to see the 17 business community as part and parcel of crime 18 prevention program within the school itself. 19 It's going back to people and making 20 people believe that they can make a difference 21 in their neighborhood by reaching out and 22 saying, "It's not just my problem, it's not 16 1 just a police problem, it's everybody's 2 problem." And I think, working together, we 3 can do that. 4 Think of what we can do if Chief 5 Burger develops -- and maybe he already has -- 6 a truancy prevention program, in North Miami 7 Beach, but not just a program that picks up the 8 child and takes them back to the school. 9 Because the school, if it has no other 10 resources, will call home. 11 A mother may come get her child. But 12 if she doesn't, too often the public school 13 system will send the child home on the bus that 14 afternoon, not recognizing that that mother may 15 be falling into the abyss of a cocaine 16 addiction, right at that moment, that we could 17 pull her out of real quickly, if we could get 18 involved up front before it was too late. 19 What if we developed teams with 20 community police officers, school personnel, 21 and youth counselors, or public health nurses, 22 that can go together as a team, knock on the 17 1 door, and find out where that mother is, and 2 why that child was truant, and why no one came 3 to school to pick up that truant child. 4 Why not then provide intervention? 5 Not in terms of forced intervention if we do 6 not have adequate claim for jurisdiction, but 7 in terms of persuasive intervention that will 8 convey to the person and the family at risk 9 that we can make a difference and keep them 10 from that brink of disaster. 11 I have seen teams of community police 12 officers working with others in making such an 13 extraordinary difference. 14 If we can send people to the moon, if 15 we can teach people to read, to write, to do 16 basic arithmetic, if we can teach them about 17 computers -- which I still have a lot learn 18 about -- surely, we can teach people how to 19 resolve conflicts without knives, and guns, and 20 fists. 21 So much is being done in terms of 22 conflict resolution. As you approach it in 18 1 your community, I urge you to make sure that is 2 evaluated. The reports that I get back are 3 that many programs are put together with little 4 thought and little concern for just how 5 effective they are. 6 But well-planned programs that are 7 properly evaluated and adjusted as indicators 8 suggest would be appropriate and can truly make a 9 difference. The Department of Justice 10 would look forward to working with you in that 11 area. 12 I hope that there will be monies, as 13 a result of the budget accord that was reached 14 today, that communities will use their 15 block grant money for crime prevention programs, and 16 consider afternoon and evening programs. 17 Wherever I go, young people who have 18 been in trouble or who are in trouble, when I 19 ask them, "What could be done to prevent the 20 trouble in the first place?" they say, 21 "Something to do in the afternoons and in the 22 evenings, not just sports, but constructive 19 1 activities that can keep me out of trouble." 2 Let's make sure that we do everything 3 we can to see that those programs are funded. 4 Let us encourage volunteers who can 5 become involved, and who can make that 6 difference, as well. 7 But another point is children that I 8 talk to, who have been in trouble, also say, "I 9 need somebody to talk to, somebody who 10 understands how hard it is to grow up in this 11 country today, somebody that give me a pat on 12 the back when I deserve it, but a swift 13 talking-to when I deserve that as well." 14 Oftentimes, it's the community police 15 officer that's fulfilling that function. But 16 we need more mentors, through boys' and girls' 17 clubs -- Big Brothers, Big Sisters -- making 18 sure that there is no child that does have an 19 adult who can listen, and who can advise. 20 And as we consider how we reweave the 21 fabric of society around our children and 22 families at risk, I think it is important that 20 1 we focus on mentoring as well. 2 One area I'm so proud of police 3 involvement in is the whole issue of domestic 4 violence. In 1978, it was very difficult to 5 get police chiefs interested in domestic 6 violence. And now, wherever I go, whether it 7 be Iowa, Maine, or the Kentucky Legislature, 8 people are saying that domestic violence and 9 family violence is one of the major problems in 10 their community or in their state. 11 The Violence Against Women Act is 12 providing monies to states. We've made a down 13 payment of $426,000 to each state. And that 14 will be enhanced, I hope, with the budget 15 accorded, as it evolves in this day. 16 The American Psychological 17 Association, in a superb report, makes clear 18 that violence is a learned behavior. And one 19 of the best schools for learning violence is in 20 the home. Unless we do something about 21 violence in the home, we are never going to 22 eliminate it on the streets or in the schools 21 1 of America. 2 Think of what we can do if we develop 3 teams of police officers sensitive to the 4 issues of domestic violence, trained in how to 5 respond to them, working with counselors, 6 working with the domestic violence center that 7 can provide procedures for TROs and one-stop 8 shopping, if you will. 9 Courts, with Judges, who are 10 sensitive to and understanding of what is 11 necessary in terms of judicial action to deal 12 with the problem. 13 We can make a difference, people tell 14 me. But it takes money. I would like to 15 translate it. If we can intervene effectively 16 in the cycle of violence so that your officers 17 don't have to respond once, twice, three times 18 to the same jurisdiction in a six-week period, 19 and have that person incarcerated and go 20 through the system, and back in, and back out. 21 But if we can intervene once, we're 22 going to be saving money in the long run. If 22 1 we can adjust prosecutor and court schedules so 2 that we have people in one group that can focus 3 on this issue, because they have the training 4 and sensitivity, we're going to save money. 5 It's just a reallocation of resources. 6 But, finally, one area that I hope 7 you don't neglect, because I'm still -- and 8 nothing in the three years that I've heard, 9 since I came to Washington, has given me any 10 reason to indicate -- as a matter of fact, 11 nobody has ever denied it, refuted it, or 12 disagreed with me -- all that we do, after a 13 child is in school, won't make any difference 14 unless, for a number of children, we start 15 early when they're first born. 16 Developing parenting programs that 17 can provide strong, effective parenting, 18 child-support enforcement mechanisms that can 19 provide effective child support for all our 20 children in this country, early childhood care 21 that can provide the supervision, the structure 22 that will enable those children to grow as 23 1 strong, effective human beings. 2 Some of you have heard my experience, 3 in Miami when I was taken to Jackson Memorial 4 Hospital to try to figure out what to do about 5 crack-involved infants and their mothers. 6 The doctors then told me -- and every 7 child development expert has confirmed -- that 8 the first three years of life are the most 9 formative, that that is when the child learns 10 the concept of reward and punishment and 11 develops a conscience. 12 What will all the police, all the 13 correctional officers, all the jails be worth 14 18 years from now unless the child develops a 15 conscience and learns the concept of 16 punishment? 17 What good will all the schooling be 18 if they don't have the foundation upon which to 19 build and to develop the skills that will 20 enable them to earn a living wage and keep out 21 of trouble? 22 As we look at the whole picture of 24 1 youth violence, we've got to realize that what 2 we are, in effect, doing is trying to develop 3 mechanisms that will enable parents to do a 4 good job of the single most difficult job in 5 the world, which is to raise children. 6 Police officers are on the front 7 line, doing that in so many different ways, 8 formally and informally, every day of the year. 9 And your effort here today is just, 10 to me, one of the most encouraging and hopeful 11 signs that I see. And I can't wait for the 12 report. I'll be there. 13 (Applause) 14 CHIEF WALCHAK: General, thank you 15 very much for helping get us on the right path 16 in this very important program. 17 We appreciate your thoughts. Your 18 continued support is certainly evidenced by 19 your taking so much time out of your busy 20 schedule to be with us this morning. 21 And thank you again so very much. We 22 know you have to leave. Thank you on behalf of 25 1 all of us. And we will get you the report. 2 (Applause) 3 (Whereupon, at approximately 4 10:45 a.m., Attorney General 5 Reno departed the summit.) 6 * * * * * 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22