cases had “other” outcomes, one conditional release after the victim denied the incident and one case
indicating only that the defendant had been booked in to jail. The Prosecutor’s office deferred 6 misde-
meanor cases (6%). The conditions of the contract leading to deferral included restrictions on firearms,
drug and alcohol use, requirements to work regularly, and to register for counseling within a specific
time.
Sheriff-Complaint sample. The movement of the remaining 125 Sheriff’s office complaints is depicted
in Figure 3. Once again, the unit of analysis is the perpetrator (141 perpetrators in the 125 case sample).
Ninety-eight percent of complaints against perpetrators originated in law enforcement, while only two
having begun in CPS and then referred to law enforcement for action. The Sheriff-Complaint sample
moved in two directions: (1) CPS investigated 6 (15%) cases; and (2) the Sheriff’s office consulted the
Prosecutor’s office about 12 (9%) cases. Six (of the 19% eligible for CPS) were investigated by CPS.
None of the cases sent to CPS was opened by DCLS for dependency court action. In 9%, the Sheriff’s
office consulted the Prosecutor’s office before deciding not to pursue them; 91% were dropped directly.
Many of the Sheriff’s complaint sample cases involved fights between children; 43% of the Sheriff’s
office sample complaint cases were classified as “kids on kids” crimes. In these cases, siblings, cousins,
or friends kicked, punched, or made threats against one another.