Evening star., 1943-10-17
A Policeman Looks at Juvenile Crime

or tried to carry 1t out. But It hap.
pened."
One night = scout car picked up q
the station, and he decided, since they q.
had this much and probably more on
him, he might as well come clean. He
implicated 13 other boys in series Of
80 unsolved crimes-housebreakin car
thefts-which the police had on the
books. The boys were aroused from
bed and arrested. Eventually they all
confessed.
Poverty, with natural desire for
spending money Is not always an ele-
ment. There was a string Of cases
against boys Of so-called good families
sons Of lawyers, doctors and business
men. The families were in comfortable
circumstances, some on the wealthy side.
The boys admitted, when the crimes
Anally were pinned on them, that they
had enough spending money, and didn't
want for anything. The only explana-
. ton they could give was that 1t was
exciting to get out and steal cars and
break into buildings. Some Of them
boasted that they had = good mob"
A Major Crime Problem.
Juvenile delinquency has provided
Georgetown with a major csime problem.
But certainly it's not the only section
with such a problem. Conditions are
as bad and sometimes worse in other
neighborhoods. Adolescent criminals
are causing concern to the whole city
to the entire Nation.
Mr.. Scheible is only one Of thousands
Of policemen, here and elsewhere, who
have had to cope with the situation.
But because he has had an unusual OPP
portunity to study it and because he
Is a man with philosophical turn, who
has made it point to get acquainted
with the boys on his beat and try to
keep them out of trouble, he was asked
what he thought was the reason and the
remedy for the prevalence of youthful
criminals.
He was inclined to lay the major
blame on parents, on lack Of supervision.
He didn't think the war was responsible.
When both parents are working at least
one usually is back in the evenings, more
often both, he pointed out.
There simply seems a growing indif-
ference to the welfare of children which
has nothing to do with the war, he
feels. He has talked to scores of par
ents, and found some cooperative, many
others who apparently couldn't be both
cred. A great many let their boys drift
on the streets late at night.
"One time" he related, I'VE had .
bunch of boys at the station. questioning
them about series of crimes. One boys
father dropped in and asked If We had
charged his son yet. We told him not
yet. He left, expressing no further in
terest in the boys fate"
The Policeman's Viewpoint.
Many persons probably will not agree
with Mr. Scheible that the war, with its
dislocations and violent tempo, is blame
less. For instance, Capt. Rhoda Milliken,
head of the Women's Police Bureau and
director of the Childrens Receiving
Home, feels that the war has placed
every one at tension and made irregu.
larities of living hardly noticeable. But
Mr.. Scheible has his views, and this i!
the story Of policeman on beat. L
could be duplicated, in part at least, b,
almost any other of Maj. Edward j
, Kelly's metropolitan policemen and
5 while their diagnoses and remedie
i would vary, they would all agree tina
: the problem Is serious.
Georgetown's crime in general actuall,
has dropped of since the war, MI
: Scheible cited, although juveniles hav
posed special difficulty.
r Despite the determined efforts of vel
: fare workers and the parent-teacher as
sociations to find wholesome amusemen
l for the boys, many Of them still don
: seem to know what to do with themselve
! when they get out of school, The George
town Boys Club, affiliated with tn
e Boys Club Of America; the Saliva
r ton Arny's center for children an
D the Georgetown's Childrens House, fo
$ younger boys and girls, offer pleasan