Importance of newly appointed KPD juvenile officer

The announcement that Kyle Police patrol officer Dago Pates would become the department’s first-ever full-time Juvenile Officer was made a little more than a week ago but I waited to write about it until I could get my hands on figures relating to juvenile crime in the city.

Juvenile Officer Dago Pates

It turns out the number of criminal offenses in which juveniles were suspected increased from 109 in 2013 to 117 last year. It appears that number will go down this year as only 77 such cases have been reported. But here are some interesting numbers from the other side of that coin. Last year 55 juveniles, defined as individuals between the ages of 10 and 17, were victims of criminal activities and that number is 49 so far this year. And since those numbers normally spike during the holiday season, it’s very possible Kyle could easily surpass 2014's figures.

"Our goal will be to provide intervention to juveniles on both lists (perpetrators as well as victims)," Kyle Police Chief Jeff Barnett wrote to me in an e-mail on this subject. "Intervention and deterrence from behavior and activities that can lead a young person towards a path of adult criminal activity are the focus of the grant. We will coordinate with and utilize all of our wonderful partner organizations in Hays County, as well as our in-house Victims Services Coordinator and Mental Health Officers to provide all of the assistance that we can offer to juveniles that need our help."

The grant Chief Barnett referred to was one the Kyle PD received from the Office of the Governor which is being used to fund the position of Juvenile Officer.

In the official announcement of Pates’s appointment, Barnett said the juvenile officer’s position eventually will have a deterring effect.

"He will work with our local schools and community organizations to identify youth from the Kyle community who need help and guidance to make good choices about their behavior," Barnett was quoted as saying.

Pates has been with the police department since 2009 and has a history of working with at-risk young people, having, for example, spoken to students at the Gary Job Corps Center, where Pates himself graduated from in 2006.