Youth Officer
The Juvenile Division is part of the Detective Division which handles the investigation of all complaints involving juvenile suspects (ages 7 through 17) and the petition of juveniles to the Nassau County Family Court.
The Juvenile Division is responsible for the investigation of any offense in which a person under the age of 18 is a suspect. They are also responsible for petitioning a juvenile defendant into Family Court (juveniles do not go through the regular court system) and for requesting that a Juvenile be given a “Person In Need of Supervision” (PINS) status.
Our Detectives also work very closely with the DSS Child Protective Services Unit, school officials and child advocacy groups.
Typical Functions of a Juvenile Officer:
Investigations
- Investigate all criminal activity that involve juveniles.
- Maintain centralized confidential records and up to date statistics on delinquency and child victimization/exploitation.
- Investigate and, where necessary, research special youth problems such as drug and alcohol abuse, vandalism, gang activity, racial incidents, child abuse, child exploitation or self destructive behavior.
- Screen all juvenile related reports generated within the department.
- Investigate and process juvenile activity reported to the Departments.
- Investigate and locate reported missing juveniles up to sixteen years of age.
- Follow up investigations involving juvenile complaints.
- Investigate physical and sexual abuse of children.
- Investigate the complaints of adults that may be contributing or causing the delinquency of children.
Advocacy
- Study and analyze the local juvenile delinquency problem and act as a consultant to public and private agencies on delinquency trends, patterns and issues.
- Attend training sessions dealing with juveniles and other human relations courses.
Diversion
- Seek to divert cases from the Family Court by taking advantage of available alternatives, referring youth to the juvenile justice system as a last resort.
Community/Public Relations
- Cooperate with comminty agencies concerned with youth. Family Court, child care agencies, youth bureaus, mental health centers, country probation and social service departments are examples.
