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• <br /> 2. <br /> Of particular concern is the level of youth violence. Between 1983 and 1992, <br /> the number of juveniles arrested for murder increased 128% (Majority Staff, Senate <br /> Judiciary Committee, 1994). Additionally, the number of children arrested for carrying <br /> or possessing weapons increased by 66% in the five-year period between 1988 and <br /> 1992. <br /> The reality of juvenile crime is that relatively few young people are responsible <br /> for the majority of the crimes committed. According to a recent report from the U.S. <br /> Department of Justice (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention), 6 <br /> percent of adolescents are responsible for two-thirds of juvenile crime (Mendel, 1995). <br /> The report also noted that persons between the ages of 10 and 20 years old <br /> accounted for 40 percent of the arrests for serious crimes (Mendel, 1995). <br /> Because violent criminal activity occurs "disproportionately among the young ... and <br /> the major threat to public safety is posed by a tiny minority of individuals", Mendel <br /> (1995) concluded that a successful crime prevention strategy would include both the <br /> incapacitation of serious offenders and the development of programs that would <br /> prevent juveniles from lapsing into criminal activity. <br /> The Minnesota Experience <br /> According to a recent poll taken by the Pioneer Press and KARE 11, <br /> Minnesotans share this national concern about crime (Coffman, 1994). Moreover, <br /> tougher sentencing guidelines and massive increases in corrections spending have not <br /> • allayed these fears. Although Minnesota continues to have the third-lowest prison <br />