Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Youth Lockup
Cracking down on crack ramped up the War on Drugs in the 1980s, and it didn’t matter if you were an adult using crack or a kid; tough on crime was tough on crime. That, of course, led to a surge of juvenile offenders right here in Los Angeles in the ‘80s and ‘90s. But juvenile arrests have since plummeted in L.A. County.
By Madeleine Brand • • 1 min readCracking down on crack ramped up the War on Drugs in the 1980s, and it didn’t matter if you were an adult using crack or a kid; tough on crime was tough on crime. That, of course, led to a surge of juvenile offenders right here in Los Angeles in the ‘80s and ‘90s. But juvenile arrests have since plummeted in L.A. County. A new county audit, however, says that taxpayers are still paying for the same levels of staffing and facilities, and the cost is up to about $233,000 per juvenile offender every year.
