New York State Will No Longer Arrest Or Prosecute Children Under 12

Soon, New York State will no longer arrest or criminally prosecute children under the age of 12, thanks to a new law. Governor Kathy Hochul signed the legislation earlier this year and it will take effect on January 1, 2023. Under current law, children ages 7 and older can be charged with a crime in New York. According to the Legal Aid Society via Gothamist,

Across the state, at least 800 children under the age of 12 were arrested by police in 2019. In New York City, about 90% were Black or Hispanic.

Once the law takes effect, any youth under the age of 12, who commits a crime will be referred to the local social services department. The exception to the law is in cases of homicide.

The legislation, S04051A/A04982-A,

Raises the lower age of juvenile delinquency jurisdiction from seven to twelve years of age; establishes differential response programs for children under the age of twelve.

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These 8 New York State Counties Have Most Violent Young Criminals

New York State has seven indexes for violent crimes - murder, rape, robbery, motor vehicle theft, burglary, aggravated assault, and larceny. As much as we'd like to think that young people rarely commit violent crimes, the truth is, they do. In NYS, outside of New York City, which doesn't report its juvenile crime statistics to the Division of Criminal Justice Services, there were 8,804 violent crimes perpetrated by youth offenders in 2020. The totals do not include crimes such as arson, possession of dangerous weapons, or simple assault. The data does include incidents that were reported, but where no charges were filed,

This data is not limited to court or formal arrest actions. Data includes both formal arrests and police contacts with juveniles where there is probable cause that an offense was committed but no formal charges were filed.

Youth offenders in New York are under the age of 18.

8. Broome County/Binghamton - 103 Violent Crimes Total

7. Suffolk County/Brookhaven - 137 Violent Crimes Total

6. Albany County/ Albany- 165 Violent Crimes Total

5. Westchester County/Yonkers - 178 Violent Crimes Total

4. Monroe County/Rochester - 222 Violent Crimes Total

3. Nassau County/Hempstead - 275 Violent Crimes Total

2. Erie County/Buffalo - 341 Violent Crimes Total

1. Onondaga County/Syracuse - 440 Violent Crimes Total