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Juvenile Crime Way Down in Oklahoma, But Discrepancies in Arrests and Incarceration Haven't Changed

Matt Trotter
/
KWGS

Juvenile crime in Oklahoma has fallen dramatically in Oklahoma over the past quarter century, but it’s not all good news.

According to an analysis from Open Justice Oklahoma, since 1990, violent felonies are down 70% and property felonies 86%, with other offenses also down substantially. Director Ryan Gentzler said the findings are good news for Oklahoma’s strained prisons.

"With crime falling so rapidly, especially among youth, it really portends well for our adult justice system going forward," Gentzler said.

State officials have struggled to rein in Oklahoma's burgeoning prison population and reduce its No. 1 incarceration rate.

Gentzler estimates falling youth crime saves Oklahoma $40 million to $50 million a year in incarceration costs alone. Crime among adults aged 18 to 24 has also fallen steeply since 1990. It’s down 62%.

The Open Justice Oklahoma analysis also found disparities haven't changed much as juvenile crime fell. Youths of color are still disproportionately affected. Black children are arrested and locked up at rates three to five times higher than kids of any other racial group.

"It’s a question, I think of our goodness as society. A person should not be more likely to be punished simply because of the color of their skin," Gentzler said.

Whites account for the largest proportion of Oklahoma’s youth population and have the second-highest arrest rate but the second-lowest incarceration rate.

And youth arrest rates in Oklahoma vary wildly county by county. Rates range from fewer than 20 per 100,000 in Osage County to more than 2,000 per 100,000 in Kay County. Gentzler said policies can differ agency to agency or officer to officer.

"If two agencies catch teenagers with, say, a small amount of marijuana, one of those agencies could decide to take them to jail. Or, they could confiscate the drugs, they could throw it away, they could say, 'Don’t let us catch you with this again,' and not arrest that kid," Gentzler said.

Gentzler said there’s no relationship in Oklahoma between a county’s youth poverty and arrest rates.

Matt Trotter joined KWGS as a reporter in 2013. Before coming to Public Radio Tulsa, he was the investigative producer at KJRH. His freelance work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times and on MSNBC and CNN.