Report to Utah on Crime and Justice 1
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I /, ~___ ~ ·-1-- !.l-.-1i 11 if f __ - r i " ~---··i{ij t1 II I: ----l1,I Ii Ii I ------------- ComInission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice Commission Priorities provide a mechanism for coordi (4) Provide a criminal justice nating the functions of the various plan annually; The 1983 Legislature created the branches and levels of govemment Utah Commission on Criminal concemed with criminal justice. It (5) Develop, monitor, and and Juvenile Justice (UCA 63-25). is also charged to: evaluate sentencing and release The Commission is comprised of guidelines; 17 key criminal justice leaders (1) Provide analysis and recom throughout the state. Its twelve mendations on all criminal and (6) Forecast future demands for person staff also provides the juvenile justice legislation, state the criminal justice system; and, criminal justice staffing for the budgets, and facility requests; Govemor's Office. (7) Promote the development of (2) Provide public information on criminal and juvenile justice The Commission is charged to the criminal and juvenile justice infonnation systems. ensure broad philosophical systems; agreement conceming the objec tives of the criminal justice (3) Promote criminal justice systems in Utah. It was created to research and program evaluation; The Commission is comprised of the following members: ,l' Richard Carling, Chairman Chief Pete Hansen Senator Eldon A. Money Citizen Representative President of Chief of Police Utah Senate Representative .t Association r Sheriff David Bateman Rodney Snow ";, President of the Sheriffs Judge Timothy R. Hanson Utah State Bar Representative Association Chief Justice Designee Jan Graham Georgia Block H.L. "Pete" Haun Utah State Attorney General Public Education Representa Chairman, Board of Pardons tive Judge Diane W. Wilkins Tim Holm Juvenile Court Judge Represen D. Douglas Bodrero Director, Divison of Youth tative Commissioner, Department of Conections Public Safety David Yocum Glen Lambert SWAP Representative Representative Afton Private Rehabilitation Treat Bradshaw ment Agency Utah House of Representatives o. Lane McCotter S. Camille Anthony Ronald W. Gibson Executive Director, Department Executive Director, CCJJ State Court Administrator of Corrections m Repor't to Utah on Crilne and Justice January 1993 A report of the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice prepared by Richard J. Oldroyd and Michael D. Haddon. Special thanks to Commission members and staff who reviewed the final draft, and particularly David Walsh (Acting Executive Director), Mary Lou Bozich, and Laura Lewis for their extensive and insightful editing. 149240 U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Justice This document has been reproduced exactly as received from the person or organization originating It. Points of view or opinions stated In this do.c~ment a~e those o! the authors and do not necessarily represent the offiCial position or pOlicies of the National Institute of Justice. Permission to reproduce this ..) R ted material has been gri9~mic Domain/OJP /BJS O.S. Department of Jastice to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS). Further reproduction outside of the NCJRS system requires permission of the __ owner. This report was funded by Grant #92-BJ-CX-K002 from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice Contents Chapter 1: Unique Utah ...................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: The Criminal Event ........................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 3: Victims of Crime .............................. , ............................................................................. 17 Chapter 4: The Offender ................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 5: The Criminal Justice Response ....................................................................................... 32 I. The Criminal Justice Process and Law Enforcement ......................................................... 33 II. Prosecution and Bail .......................................................................................................... 38 III. The Courts ......................................................................................................................... 41 IV. Corrections ........................................................................................................................ 46 Chapter 6: The Juvenile Justice Response ....................................................................................... 55 Chapter 7: The Costs of Criminal Justice ........................................................................................ 62 Chapter 8: Child Sexual Abuse ....................................................................................................... 73 Chapter 9: Drugs and Crime ............................................................................................................ 83 Chapter 10: Technology and Innovation ........................................................................................... 91 -----------------------------' ----------_._, ........................~ ........................... ~ ............. _ ....__ l Chapter 1 Unique Utah Utah is well known for its scenic beauty, its great skiing, and its "Mormon pioneer heritage." This chapter provides an overview of some ways that Utah is atypical and the implications these unique features have for criminal justice in the state. How is Utah's population unique? Do young people commit a disproportionate amount of crime? How does Utah's violent crime rate compare with that of the nation as a whole? How does Utah's property crime rate com pare with the nation as a whole? How does drug use in Utah compare to the United States as a whole? Which is the most literate state in the United States? How does Utah's high school graduation rate compare to that of the U.S.? How does Utah's incarceration rate compare to that of the United States? How does crime compare with other major issues in the eyes of Utah citizens? Report to Utah on Crime and Justice 1 ..............~.............. m. .... _ .................~~m. .................... \.. Utah has the most youthful population in the U.S. Utah is not a typical state. The discussion that follows will attempt to identify some of Utah's unique characteristics and the implications these have for the functioning of criminal justice in the state. ~------------------------------------------------------, Utah is the "kids capitol" of the Percent of Population by Age Group United States. Perhaps more than anything else 30.-----------------------------------------, Utah is unique because of the 26.6 large number of children in its 2,)'- population. The fertility rate (number of women having chil dren) is easily the highest of any 20 18.2 state and is 37% higher than the c national average. As a result, ~ 15 Utah's median age of 25.7 years is a.Ql also the youngest in the nation by almost four years. Utah leads the 10 8.7 next closest state by 5% in the number of school age children in 5 its population which is 50% higher than the national average (see graph). o Under 5 5 -17 Years 65 and Over This is particularly significant LI-_U_.S_._D_U_t_ah_________ J because young people are gener Source: The Slale Policy Reference Book ally arrested for crimes at a much higher rate than older people. Those 15-17 years of age are arrested at twice the rate of 22 year olds and the rate continues to drop in half with each decade of age. With Utah having 50% more school age children in its popula tion, it would not be unreasonable to expect that Utah's crime rate would be substantially above the national average. Report to Utah on Crime and Justice 2 ...........~ ......................... ....., ~......... a. ......... ~, ........ ,............. ..a. Utah's crime rates are generally low Violent Crime Comparisons: Utah & United States 500,---------------------------------·-------------, Rates of reported crime in Utah 433.3 are generally substantially 400 below the national averages. The most commonly used mea 300 sures of crime are the Part 1 Offenses reported to police and recorded in the Uniform Crime 200 Reports. Seven different crimes are reported. The four violent crimes are: murder, rape, robbery 100 and aggravated assault. The Utah and national comparisons for 9.8 2.9 violent crimes are shown in the adjacent graph. Murder Robbery Rape Agg Assault II.U U,S. DUtah L ·Rat. per too,ooo inhabitants Property Crime Comparisons: Utah & United States 5 r---------------------------------------------~ 4.239 4 The Uniform Crime Reports also 3.228 include three property offenses: en 3 burglary, lurceny and auto theft. '0 c:: With the ex(~eption of larceny, CIl fJ) :::Jo Utah's rates are again well below ~ 2 national averages as shown in the adjacent graph. o Burglary Larceny Motor Vehicle Theft IDu.s. DUtah I 'Rale per 100,000 Inhabilanls Report to Utah 011 Crime alld Justice 3 ..............................................n. .... m~' ............................ .. Utahns are less likely to use drugs Utah's young people also report using alcohol and other drugs much less frequently than youth in the nation as a whole. Utalms generally use alcohol, Substance Abuse tobacco, and street drugs much Percent of High School Students Who Have Used less