D.A. Reiner Announces Crackdown on Truants

Hoping to discourage future gang membership, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner on Monday announced a crackdown on kids who skip school, including prosecuting their parents if necessary.

Habitual truancy, Reiner said, “is the No. 1 precursor of ultimately serious criminal behavior.”

The “D.A. Truancy Mediation Program,” if successful, also would cut daytime residential burglaries throughout the county because up to two-thirds of those crimes are committed by truants, Reiner said.

“If you can clear the streets of truants, you can dramatically reduce daytime residential burglaries,” he said.

Theme of 2nd Term

Reiner has made the search for new ways to deter gang membership a theme of his second term as district attorney, and it is likely also to be a refrain in his campaign for state attorney general in 1990.

The new program was hailed by Los Angeles school district officials.

“We’ve been waiting for something like this for 15 years,” said Phillip D. Kauble, a consultant with the county’s Office of Education.

The key element of the program, Reiner said, is that “we will involve both the students and their parents, prosecuting both parties if necessary.”

By law, a student is deemed a truant after four unexcused absences. Once a student reaches that status, and if consultations with his parents or guardians do not bring improved attendance, the case is referred to a local School Attendance Review Board.

Formerly Lacked Power

The boards, which are made up of community representatives, considered more than 3,700 truancy cases last year. But until now, Kauble said, the boards lacked enforcement power.

Under the new program, if the boards are unable to produce satisfactory results, they may refer truancy cases to Reiner’s office for review by juvenile division prosecutors.

There, the district attorney’s office may conduct hearings that require the student and his parents or guardians to attend. If such proceedings still do not correct the truancy problem, both the student and his parents could be prosecuted, Reiner said.

The crackdown is one result of a 1988 state Supreme Court decision that allowed authorities to incarcerate a truant for up to five days, Reiner said.

“Truancy must have a real price to pay,” he said. “We must not lose sight, however, that the primary goal of this program is to secure the child’s attendance in school, not incarceration,” he said.

Parents of incorrigible truants can be prosecuted under the provisions of the State Education Code, Reiner said. A first-time conviction carries a maximum penalty of a $100 fine and five days in jail. Repeat offenders face up to $500 in fines and 25 days in jail.