Dealing with adolescent offenders has always been difficult for the security personnel. It is comparatively easy for them to tackle dreaded criminals as there is hardly any second thought in their mind regarding criminal’s treatment. Perhaps the policymakers could not imagine about such situation where incidents of adolescent’s involvement in violent is continuously increasing. This paper discusses a situation and examines what should be done in case an adolescent offender loaded with a gun commits a violent crime.
It has been observed in the cases of adolescent offenders that they apply their full mind before committing a crime. Intention, preparation and execution all elements of a crime are usually visible in their crimes. Recently a number of incidents have proved the fact that the adolescent offenders had well planned the crime and executed in a mature manner. It has been observed that considering the intention, application of their mind and modus operandi, courts have treated the adolescent offenders like major offenders.
As a homeland security if I come across a situation where an adolescent carrying a shotgun threatens me or somebody else, I will shoot him once I have reasons to believe that he is going to kill me or others. The adolescent who is standing in front of me is not carrying a toy but a shotgun which is capable of causing severe damages so after believing that there are one or more reasonable grounds to shoot the offender there is no need to look at his or her age. A number of violent incidents have committed in the American schools by the offenders so there is no space for sympathy or compassion in such cases.
References
Carter, D. L. (2009, January). Law Enforcement Intelligence:A Guide for State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement Agencies. Retrieved May 23, 2012, from www.fas.org: http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/lei.pdf
Lisa J. Berlin, Jenni Owen and Geelea Seaford. (2007, March 20). Juvenile or Adult? Retrieved May 23, 2012, from www.familyimpactseminars.org: http://www.familyimpactseminars.org/s_ncfis03report.pdf
