Youth and the Law (1963, sound)

[Music] [Applause] [Music] good aren't you a little old to be taking a bath together come out here both of [Music] you I thought we were after a gang of hoodlums oh you weren't doing anything I'd say you did all right tore up the bathroom broken windows busted light bulbs were you to at Chelsea School earlier we had a report there was gang up there breaking windows we weren't even there no you were too busy in the bathtub that's a lie better watch where you're calling the liar take it easy John all right let's go this is the wrong way to create respect for the tonight Joan Barbara meeting law enforcement for the first time they're learning that Authority can be unfair they are being taught that grown-up Justice can blunder just because some policemen always suspect the worst of teenagers to them adolesence are as unpredictable as wild animals and just about as dangerous they think they can judge all youngsters by the delinquents they have met through the years some of them Savage Twisted kids who with sharpen two and ingenious claw strike against a society that they hate these tools of Destruction were actually taken from Young offenders but such children do exist I know because I'm a policeman my name is Clay Sergeant clay in charge of the juvenile Bureau in an eastern city I specialize in dealing with youngsters they're not all bad even the ones who get into trouble now and then most of my work is involves interrogation getting to the truth by asking questions but truth to Children is not a simple thing they conveniently forget what they don't want to remember fortunately the juvenile court and our own regulations require us to keep careful records that we can refer to in time of doubt they are confidential but they carry a complete story of every child we ever see or even question they help to sharpen memories last year it was a mysterious bicycle now it's a mysterious watch after a while most youngsters tell the truth often my questioning takes me out of headquarters after all my beat is only limited by the city boundaries and I even cross them once in a while the car that is assigned to me unlike other police cars is unmarked nor do I ever wear my uniform for we work as unobtrusively as we can on a visit to a school for instance we follow strict procedures that are designed to cause a minimum of publicity and embarrassment although I'm well known to both the administrative staff and the teachers I always go through channels in looking up a child and I never talk to one without a school official present usually permission to question a child has been given by a parent for both the youngster and his parents have legal rights that must be respected at first the presence of the assistant principal cramped my style but I've learned to take advantage of the respect the kids have for him the children are more guarded in such a situation but generally their answers in front of a witness tend to be more accurate the problem at this meeting was to ascertain the boy's relationship to a girl delinquent who had his name in her address book my job takes me all over town and into all kinds of neighborhoods a prevention campaign involves getting various Church groups to set up children's programs today I'm finding out from father Schmidt what is women's auxilary has decided about funds for a new play center that is badly needed in this area father Schmidt is beaming because the ladies voted the money it seems that some of his young parishioners will soon be off the dangerous slum streets dealing with other children's agencies is a very important part of my job I'm even a member of the City Welfare Council and I get up here to the Child Guidance Clinic at least once a week this is where our troubled children are given the treatment that may prevent delinquent Acts or change a pattern of destructive behavior that began in early childhood sometimes the court refers cases here sometimes I do myself today for instance I've come for a report by the psychiatrist and the social worker on a boy involved in several fire incidents by now I understand that in very young children aen and minor sex acts are signs of much deeper problems than we can handle so when the doctor tells me she thinks that they can help this particular boy I naturally go along with her decision when we find a little loner who has troubl making friends we see that he is put in touch with a recreational group whose activities will ease him into contact with other youngsters of his own age after all the gang of kid joins can be a healthy gang someone has the time to give him the right start most lonely children I find really hate being alone they just don't know what to do about it often when I'm away from my desk at headquarters I can be found here at the County Courthouse where our juvenile court sits for in a way the juvenile court judge is back of everything I do juvenile courts are quite different from their adult counterparts Spectators and press are usually excluded this is technically a hearing not a trial although some of the usual court procedures may be followed after a youngster has been sworn to tell the truth the representative of the DA's office office May State the offense I am present to act as a witness if necessary but the important facts are submitted by the Court's probation officer who has made a thorough investigation of all aspects of the case by now he is familiar with a boy's life history with his parents and their attitudes with almost everything that is contrib to forging the character of the boy who is in trouble in his estimation John is not an encourageable youngster there is good reason to believe that his offense of burglary was committed under the influence of a group of older boys who are coercing him the judge is quite willing to consider such circumstances and deciding what kind of corrective measures are necessary in the case for under juvenile law children are not fully responsible for their behavior and are never punished as adults might be for the same act the legal difference between grownup s and juveniles who are big strong and sometimes tough is difficult for many people to understand the law holds that growing boys need guidance and protection that the state has a duty not to punish them but rather to remedy their behavior this is especially hard for policemen in the line of fire to comprehend for they know that when they pursue an auto thief their own lives are in danger racing through a city at 70 M an hour is not exactly a safe way of earning a [Music] [Applause] living there is danger at every step in such a job police regulations call for the use of firearms when they are needed men who will steal a car May well be carrying a a gun police officers have been shot dead in such circumstances others have been purposefully run over every precaution must be taken in dealing with the adult criminal but it's a different story when youngsters are involved as I keep telling the line officers at every opportunity I get for the general patrolman are the ones who are most likely to have the first contact with a juvenile offender and it's part of my job to help them to understand enforcement of juvenile law they don't seem to mind my nagging for this is the way a stolen convertible was handled a few weeks ago by two men on The Late Shift [Music] just kids I want to see your driver's license and owner's card I don't have the owner's card okay whose car is it Pete my uncle's he gave it to me just for the night it's pretty nice car for your uncle to loan out what is your uncle's name um Joe Uncle Joe Joe Robinson you expect me to believe that well I just borrowed it was she with you when you when you borrowed it no I picked her up after I got the car we have a report this car is stolen you'll have to come with us step on the teenagers were not even arrested technically they were simply taken in for questioning but even that's expensive for 6 minutes of thrill Pete was not your regulation car thief I saw that as soon as they brought him into headquarters but it was my job to find out whether he'd ever stolen a car or anything else before I had to get the fact to the case before he had time to make up a story to conceal them a phone call had revealed that his parents were not at home and so I questioned him in the presence of our captain of detectives at first he refused to take the whole Affair seriously typical attitude of adolesence who can't quite face the music but I was able to jol him into reality I wanted to know why he had taken the car and where he plan to go I needed the whole story [Music] was one of those nights Pete said when nothing was happening hey uh fellas fellas come here come here what I uh I have an idea another rainstorm I supp let let's go for a ride what do you want to do around in a flying carpet we can borrow a car oh sure any wa there a whole parking lot of cars out there why you got to be joking guy you seem to know so much about this why don't you go out and get us a car me you got to be kidding St what on okay but who's going to go with me what do you need of course you don't need anybody to go with you I'll do it I don't want to do it alone be a coward come on come on come on no wait so wait I got an idea Susan looks pretty nice to me she could easily borrow a car how about it Susan true that is pretty true yeah what's the matter with the way I look all right I'll go back to all right I'm is let's go hey don't forget to pick us up now yeah come on back be right here we rather belied the boy's story but the fact remained that he had taken a car that didn't belong to him I would have to check his school records and do a good deal of investigating before the case was turned over to the juvenile court but I felt like i' let him go home that night once we contacted his parents in the meantime Susan was being interrogated by my assistant Sergeant Carol fortunately her parents came down to headquarters as soon as they were called Susan suppose your friend would have panicked when the police started the Chase and he was involved in an accident as he was speeding you could have been dead now do you realize [Music] that I mean why did you do it well how far would you go to prove that but you're not a square I don't know maybe you should start thinking about that you know you went a long way this time we must often protect children from themselves and encourage parental Authority but not all juvenile offenders are just kids looking for a thrill this motorcycle patrolman has a sharp eye for the difference as well as for license plates that have been reported as wanted [Music] [Music] keep your hands up on the steering wheel where I can see them and stay sitting exactly where you are keep your hands up there and when I tell you get out slow I you can get out put your hands up on a car put your legs back back all the way back stay there I tell you you can move cycle 18 now just that behind at that 60 Chevy giv out stolen this morning I'm holding the occupant in the 2700 block Lynden Street waiting for assistance over stay there till I tell you you can move all right you can stand up now where'd you get the [Applause] tires where were you taking them I don't have to talk without my lawyer oh wise guy you've been around this before haven't you you'll talk I didn't get into the picture until the next morning by then Ken was securely locked up in our County Detention home a rather Pleasant building where youngsters are held while waiting for juvenile court action or when they can't be Senter to their home for some reason it's not a jail but it's not an easy place to get into or out of without pup's approval and assistance [Music] mom is an old friend and a good cook the youngsters rarely stay here more than a few days but I often know them quite well they've usually come through the channels of our Bureau sometimes more than once but this was the first time I'd met Ken he wasn't going to waste any charm on me to him I'm a cop that's not a nice word in his vocabulary [Music] the tough ones never bother me as much as they like to I'm not afraid of them physically and I can usually guess what is going on behind the movie Gangster sneer if they weren't scared they wouldn't have to put on the show sometimes I just wait them out but there's no use getting rough there are some kids who just don't know how to give you can try but you never get through the armor plate I know from the records that Kenna is a crook he steals for money in my book he'll stand a lot of correcting if ever there was another juvenile car case recently an accident alarm this time are you hurt no I'm all right are you sure yeah all right can you get out yeah later on Sergeant Woodman told me the boy seemed odd right from the start he thought he was drunk at first but there was no smell of licker the boy was vague didn't even seem interested in the smash Fender acted like it was all a dream whose car is this uh Mother's your mother's does she know you have it tonight well sort of what do you mean sort of well she lets me drive it sometimes well how about tonight no she doesn't no let me see your license this is your mother's car well sort of it's in my father's name it's in your father's name yes does he know you have the car no he doesn't no Willie I'm going to take you to the general hospital and get you checked well I'm all right I mean there's nothing wrong well it's routine we'll uh discuss this whole thing at the hospital Pat you'll have to stay here until the truck gets here car two to headquarters I two come in message for sergeant clay I'm taking a juvenile car theft suspect to the general hospital for a checkup I'd like him to meet me there please 10 for Car 2 he'll be [Music] notified I got the call at home and drove straight to the hospital where Willie was being examined for possible injuries they give these cases a fairly thorough neurological going over as well as a check on broken bones when the sergeant handed the case over to me he mentioned what he noticed at the scene of the accident that the boy didn't seem interested in what was going on that he acted as though he wasn't involved at all I noticed myself that the boy was somewhat withdrawn but I thought at first that he was only acting the cool cat bit but then the doctor echoed the Sergeant's opinion medically the boy was okay but his manner was definitely strange no signs of alcohol or drugs but his emotional responses were uncertain he thought a psychiatric checkup was indicated I told him I tried to see to it and and then got the boy going toward home he was no trouble at [Music] all home was quite a show willly wasn't what I'd call a poor boy his father ran his own insurance business but it was a c he didn't run his own home mother helped I told them what was up and the father exploded he'd always known something like this was going to happen the boy was naturally careless and thoughtless that was why he wouldn't give him permission to drive the car in the first place mother obviously didn't agree with Dad this was her big boy we were talking about and when father got too outspoken about the young man's character mother actually moved in to quiet him down I had a feeling these two couldn't agree about anything so I decided to stop their bickering by making a suggestion the Family Service Agency on Kenmore Street has people train to solve problems like this if the boy needed special help they would refer him to the right place otherwise they might help the folks work things out right here at home mother didn't see anything wrong with expert help Will's dad didn't like the idea of going to Stranges with his troubles so I told him I had the right to handle this kind of case myself if they were willing to act on my suggestion otherwise it would be a juvenile court matter that was when father agreed that maybe my idea was a pretty good one at that family relations and the reasons for kids acting oddly are always complex that's why the state consultant on juvenile police often brings in experts to talk to our men about such matters today it's a psychiatrist from a Philadelphia Medical College but sometimes it's a sociologist or a psychologist the men seem to like these talks maybe just because it makes anology out of something they see and do every day policemen take their work more seriously than people think if they didn't they'd get other jobs you don't see any of them asleep at a serious lecture like this on the epidemiology of juvenile delinquents extreme poverty and no playgrounds could be called emotionally unsanitary often the epidemic can be stopped where it got started if we get busy with the antiseptic of good police work you don't have to tell our boys much about neighborhoods though that's how they see the city from a front seat of a squad car it's made up of good neighborhoods and bad blocks where nothing ever happens or blocks where there is never a dull moment you get to know each Street each alley you must remember how things look when they're normal then when anything is different you're alerted to trouble that's how you can check on a whole city from the front seat of a cruiser certain things happen at certain times the school yacht is not what it used to be some high schools have had to cut down on their playing fields to find room for the student cars teenage America has squirmed its way into the driver's seat so for the policeman there is a whole new set of problems that he never had before it isn't just a traffic problem fast cars are better than slow cars noisy cars are better than quiet cars young people like to show off young men like to beat out other young men the phenomenon of adolescence on Wheels completely free and unsupervised Wheels is a frightening one the policeman on the afternoon shift just happens to be one of the first who us to cope with it formula is simple 200 horsepower 3 hours to kill before supper time a bevy of healthy 17-year-old girls looking for fun or a platoon of 17-year-old boys with the same idea in their heads sooner or later ingredients like these explode some of the young people are well organized for the afternoon Athletics provide a productive outlet for Boundless Energy minds and bodies are kept busy even if the youngsters are only taking part as Spectators these kids are less apt to get into trouble their competitiveness is channeled their physical Drive given a healthy goal it's all the rest of the kids that the police have to worry about from the time they are just out of kindergarten and only need someone to make sure that they're not run over the official name for this police action is preventive Patrol and what does that mean taking care of a playground one Citywide it's a strange assignment you represent Authority kids May resent you but others think of you as a friend others don't seem to know you exist they are too busy with their own serious Affairs and yet you don't pass unnoticed you're part of what is expected to be there you're part of the uneventful Summer Afternoon in any city of the world if you weren't around it wouldn't be normal something would be wrong it would be taken as a sign of trouble you see all kinds of things on a tour like this sometimes what seems like a problem at First turns out to be something funny sometimes there is no sensible reason for why youngsters move there is not always a reason for they're not moving you expect youngsters to be where they belong not in grownup places just being there is enough to arouse suspicion you expect quiet neighborhoods to be quiet dullness should be dull maybe your presence keeps it dull and quiet if so that's fine policemen don't usually complain of boredom every once in a while there is a break in the monotony and some kids to share it with even a hardened police officer can enjoy a pretty scene doesn't make him any weaker or softer if he appreciates the nice things on his beat preventive Patrol means being on the spot so the potential trouble doesn't develop your arrival isn't a surprise but you expect that youngsters are more alert than grown-ups you're not fooled of course they're playing cards seems to be no money around and there are no grown-ups involved so they're playing cards when there is nothing wrong you move along preventive Patrol doesn't mean hounding kids or telling them to move on to a hiding place that might be worse just being around is often all it takes there are certain regular stops on this seemingly aimless tour of the city you go to the Hangouts where the kids [Music] are fuzzies is one of the popular spots for the black jacketed social set but even they can afford to kid with the cups when they're not in trouble you can't be upset by their kidding or you're lost sweet shops candy stores pinball alleys sandwich joints these are the highlights of the afternoon Cruise own doorsteps these are the public living rooms of the children of the streets it isn't much of a coincidence when a cop cruising his own beat happens to run into an old friend P troman Cory hasn't seen Joe since the night he found him in the bathtub Hey Joe come here we were just fing around officer we weren't really fighting he's my friend well I don't care about that Joe I've been thinking about the other night I guess I was pretty rough on you gave you a raw deal anyway I don't want you to walk around with a chip on your shoulder okay sure officer yeah all right and that young girl that was with you what was her name Barbara when you see her tell her the same thing would you yeah okay Officer okay behave yourself boy a cop apologizing but the policeman who is capable of saying I'm sorry to a youngster is a big man indeed who can be sure it's someone who takes the trouble to say I'm sorry every man has his own way of earning respect every policeman has his own definition of fairness as evening approaches the costumes change but the players are the same there's to be a dance at the church a concert at the high school in the business area the crowds are heavy the men have left their offices the women are doing the last minute shopping as the Shadows lengthen policing requires sharper attentiveness preventive Patrol becomes a more demanding chore much can happen under the cover of Darkness property must be protected closed shops must be checked on certain kinds of merchandise are more tempting to thieves than others the night men know where to look and what they look for is normaly they too have a list of musts potential trouble spots where youngsters or their older brothers may be getting out of line the bowling alleys are visited so the bars which are tucked away in corners of the town on this shift too the city is a combination of neighborhoods some are always quiet others must be Revisited three and four times a night there is no curfew in our city but a crowd on a quiet street is enough to arouse suspicion here for instance a gang of boys on Oak Street come here boys what's going on where are your boys from we ain't doing anything what is it Russia or something come on now where do you fellas go to school we go to George Washington High you fellas are a little out of your neighborhood aren't you no we swing all over this bird you didn't swing by here for a little entertainment did you a couple guys invite us down for a dance yeah well you know you're going to end up in a dance and uh pretty soon there's a fight and fighting's hard on the eyes you don't want to go away from here crippled this is a case of taking a fuse out of a potential explosive these boys are looking for Action they could even make the cup the target of their Restless energy if he doesn't know how to cope with their High Spirits all right shape up you know you fellas are going to go looking for a fight somebody's bound to get hurt right yeah you're right maybe too well the point is it might be one of you rather than somebody from the other gang that's something to think about back in your own neighborhood it's not hard to deal with a gang of cocky boys if you can take it and if you know you're the boss the Adolescent ownership of automobiles is an even greater problem for the night shift parked cars have long since changed America's courtship patterns constant checking is required they're especially Vigilant in the areas of bars which may have been selling liquor to underaged patrons but our men know where to find the youngsters after supper if you have a car you have to go somewhere so nowadays in most towns there are drive-ins which seem to act as magnets for the Adolescent this is a part of the new world where gasoline and soda pop go together this is where to find the teenager in his native [Music] habitat these are teenagers with grownup gadgets trying to behave like adults and yet in many ways they're still children for what happens in a place like this the official reasons for it are ice cream hamburgers or Coke of course it is long since outgrown those reasons now it is a place to go to a place to be seen at a place to see others of your age of your kind as usual with adolescence food is still an important ingredient of any social situation ation at 16 you are always hungry always burning energy always on the go but nothing much happens in a place like this mostly you hang around waiting what for is never very clear these youngsters don't seem to have much to talk about a newly hopped up motor is a subject of intense interest but they never stop looking expecting hoping for the bit of excitement that can make the evening a memorable one like over [Music] there but most of the youngsters just spend their time looking waiting maybe even lonlier in the crowd than they would be on their own block see the drivein verion of a lady in waiting waiting to be asked in for the goal of most of the youngsters is a date at one of the tables in the noisy interior this is the inner sanctum of the teenager they are on their good behavior but the urge to play the need to find friends the desire to pick up a boy or a girl often interferes a little with their rest but the management here knows how to handle youngsters they only allow to stay at the tables for half an hour after they're served but at 17 that's plenty of time to make an impression or be impressed to get off a wise cracker to exercise your charm this rockus room is a threshold to adult social life and in the meantime the others wait hopeful Dynamic vital youth waiting to come alive [Music] these are the forces of Youth which the police must meet head on many times a day they may seem frightening at times but this healthy human energy can be handled and that's my job remember I'm Sergeant clay of the juvenile Bureau [Music] the [Music] oh