( NewsNation ) — Philadelphia police will stop arresting kids who are accused of first-time, low-level offenses as part of a police diversion program, beginning Monday.
Instead of going to jail, 10- to 17-year-olds will be sent to a “police diversion program,”
The city’s head of police said he hopes it’ll lessen the trauma of being arrested and enable them to look at other ways to address the root cause of bad behavior.
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In 2024, minors in Pennsylvania accounted for 12% of arrests for serious crimes, per the state’s crime reporting system — but half of the arrests were for car thefts.
In this new diversion program, they’ve set up a tiered system to handle kids based on the seriousness of what they’ve done. For minor crimes, like disorderly conduct, they’ll be let go right away but will have to do a one-day restorative program.
If it’s something like shoplifting or vandalism, cops will drive them home or to a city curfew center, and they’ll have to do extended community programs. For the more serious offenses, like having drugs, they’ll go through the city’s juvenile assessment center and have home check-ins to help keep them on track.