Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1954-06-30
.Juveni|ePhoto
And Fingerprini
.Curbs Endorsed
Work Group Votes
To Back Demands
Of Judge CockriII
By ChorIes 6. Brooks

A work group at the Confer
ence on Juvenile Delinquency
today voted to go along with
Juvenile Court Judge Edith
Cockrill's demands for control of
police fingerprinting and photo
graphing OF juveniles.
The session on police services
for children, attended by the
f! judge until she left for a confer
ence at Colorado Springs yester-
day, will recommend to the final
session this afternoon that fin
gerprints and photographs may
be taken by departments, where
the offenSe if committed by an
adult would be a felony. with the
consent of the judge of the
juvenile court"
The decision was something of
q victory for Judge Cockrill, who
called for legislation yesterday
forbidding f1ngerprinting and
photographing of juveniles ex-
cept with the consent of the
court. She also called for laws
forbidding police juvenile records
to be released to the public.
Officers of Law Attend.
The work group which the
Judge was attending consisted
largely of chiefs of police and
other law-enforcement officers
from throughout the country.
Some months ago Police Chief
Robert v. Murray here stated
he did not approve of legislation
closing police arrest books be-
cause of the dangers of secret
arrests. Judge Cockrill has long
been noted for her demands for
absolute secrecy in the juvenile
field.
The recommendations by the
work group include the following
restrictions:
/. That no identif1cations be
given to the general public.
2. That prints and photos be
used only by the juvenile bureau
and be available only to those
with an official interest in the
welfare of the child.
3. That the prints of juveniles
when taken should be kept in
files separate from adults.
Definite Agreements.
At the same time, however, the
group declared that law en-
forcement agencies Should" OBJ
tain definite agreements with jul
venile court judges regarding
fingerprints and photographs to
cover instances when the judge
is unavailable.
Yesterday juvenile squad Capt.
John F. Ryan, in speaking to
one of the Is work groups in the
45O-delegate conference spon-
sored by the Department of
Health, Education and Welfare.
declared that many more police
cases would be cleared if per-
sonnet in correction and detain-
ing institutions would pass on to
police what they learn about jul
venile delinquentS' past actions.
The juvenile squad leader
called for closer cooperation
between employees of correctional
institutions and the police force
He declared that the personnel
of institutions often learn that
an inmate has committed Of
lenses the police do not know
about. "They should notify the
police about this and help to
clear our books" Capt. Ryan
asserted.
''DO Not Have Proper Idea"
But" he continued, "it seems
to be inherent in their philoSo-
ply not to tell the police any
thing. This indicates to me that
they do not have proper idea
of the interrelationship of all
groups who, work with juvenile
delinquency"
After several members Of the
panel, one of Is in the 450-
member conference which con-
cludeS a three-day session this
afternoon, asked whether the
Juvenile Court judge would use
such information to add to the
child's punishment rather than
to further his rehabilitation,
Capt. Ryan replied:
my job is to collect facts and
it irritateS me to know that facts
are being concealed from me
It is not my job to punish but
to collect facts and bring them
to the proper tribunal. It is the
judges business to decid
whether to give further punish
ment."