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Juvenile Division

The purpose of the Juvenile Investigations Division is to handle matters involving the welfare of minors under the age of 18 and to oversee the handling of minors under the age of 17 that have violated the law.

A Lieutenant in the investigations unit oversees the juvenile function, but all officers in the department carry out its duties. Both patrol officers and investigators deal with juvenile matters on a regular basis.

Currently, the Pekin Police Department has 26 officers that are state certified as Juvenile Police Officers. There are a number of specialized functions carried out with regard to juveniles. A separate, but complete, set of files must be maintained for juvenile offenders. Juvenile Officers also perform “station adjustments” when dealing with juveniles. Station adjustments are actions taken by juvenile police officers that attempt to correct their behavior without going to court. A station adjustment can include a wide variety of conditions to be determined by the juvenile police officer. They are generally used for first offenders or less-serious violations.

The overall rationale is to intervene with juveniles when they first get into trouble and try to correct their behavior without introducing them to the court system. Repeat offenders and juveniles that commit serious offenses are sent to court.