Do not criminalize Black children for normal adolescent behaviors.
While youth of all races engage in minor misbehavior, Black children are criminalized for it while white children are not. The resulting racial disparity is astounding: 98% of kids arrested in New Orleans are Black. We need policies in place that address this disparity and keep law enforcement from acting on their biases, whether implicit or explicit.
Support continued implementation of the Policing Alternatives for Youth (PAY) ordinance, which requires police officers to issue a warning or summons to children accused of certain minor offenses instead of taking them into custody.
Provide regular, meaningful implicit bias and anti-racism training to police officers, prosecutors, and judges.
Hold law enforcement officers accountable if they show a pattern of discriminatory behavior.
Do not criminalize or impose fines on the families of system-involved youth, as doing so only exacerbates hardships they may be facing.