New Britain herald., 1927-08-27
'BAD' BOYS TRAVEL
 IN CRIME GROOVE
Early Tendencies Often Indicate
 Career of Law Breaking

Not all the boys who find them selves facing the judge in juvenile court on Saturday morning are bad" as police characterization and classification goes, according to those long connected with police work, but it is fact that great many youngsters appear to be mark ed from childhood with the stain that stamps them as proper subjects for police direction throughout their lives. Incidentally. it is said that the practice of observing the ad- vancement of youths from the period of juvenile delinquency through their teens and into young manhood is one of the most inter estine phases of the study of criminology.
 In New Britain. there are dozens of boys whose ages average from 10 to 15 years, and upon whom sus- picion is directed from the moment a report comes in to police head quarters of theft or burglary case. It is true that there are cases which are never cleared up, indicat- ing that in all probability the po- lice "hunch" at the outset was not accurate, but the number of those laid at the doors of the suspects is said to be greatly in excess of the former. Experienced policemen are not content with learning the names and addresses of bad" boys and arresting them. They try in every case to effect reform, and they have had the satisfaction of being successful to a certain extent.
 Some boys whose police records date back to the days of their youth seem to take great delight in boosting of the ''jobs" they have done. after their arrest. They are familiar with all the jargon of the underworld of the large cities, They know the meaning of Peter man. joint. and the many other expres- sions common among criminals and they have all the admiration of elder gangsters for the bulls" who are smart enough to run down clues leading to their apprehension. They are hardened and nothing that the police, the judge and the proba- ton officer can do seems to make the slightest impression on them. Eventually. when they are sent to jail or prison for complicity in seri- ous crimes. attention is directed 10 their boyhood life and the tenden- cies of those years are disclosed as the root of their later difficulty.
 There are local boys in rcforma- tories who were given numerous chances to behave but would not do so. an the police expect that when they are released they will bear watching. Past experience has taught the police 10 be on the look out for boys of this type and the fact that some youngsters have ac- tuallv been reformed by confinement in these institutions is not permit ted to dssuado the authorities when on the trail. There are certain of- lenses which are characterized by circumstances that almost always justify suspicion of a definite group. according to the police, and this fact has been known 10 be of the greatest assistance to the men whose duty it is to bring the offenders 10 justice.
 Not long ago. mparatively young man was sentenced to states prison for a serious crime commit ted in New Britain. X veteran po- lice officer. without any of the T told you so" swaeger, recalled that he had predicted several years ago that the youth, who was then only 8 boy, would come to serious cir cumstances unless he mended his ways. It was typical case, not unlike hundreds of others in which the petty offenses that are recited in juvenile court formed the tegin- ming of a life of crime.