Countywide : Youth Offender Program Honored

California Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren on Monday gave the Ventura County district attorney’s office a special governor’s award for its program that targets serious juvenile offenders for tough prosecution.

Lungren handed the public safety program award to Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury during the governor’s conference on Victim Services and Public Safety in Anaheim.

Bradbury’s Serious Habitual Offender Program identifies chronic juvenile offenders, tracks them closely through the justice system and presses for maximum penalties.

“It makes sure they don’t fall through the cracks,” said Kevin McGee, assistant chief deputy district attorney.

The juvenile program was started in 1984 under a federal grant awarded to the Oxnard Police Department. In 1986, state legislation provided money for such projects, and Ventura County became one of nine jurisdictions with a permanent juvenile offender programs.

Since its inception, 355 juveniles have been identified as serious habitual offenders, according to the district attorney’s office. These youthful offenders have been arrested an average of 13 times by police with the first arrest often occurring before the age of 12.

More than 100 juveniles are on an active list of offenders, along with another 58 now housed at the California Youth Authority.

Youths are identified for the program according to the number and frequency of arrests and type of offenses, McGee said. Once targeted as a candidate for the program, prosecutors notify police and make every effort to keep the offender locked up through the trial.

To monitor a case more closely, McGee said the same prosecutor handles a youth’s case and probation officers see the youth more frequently--once or twice a week--than might other juvenile offenders.

“It just makes sense,” he said. “It takes them out of circulation. They’re not in a position to do crimes.”