Boston – On Thursday, June 22, Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea J. Cabral will be holding the first of a series of community–based forums entitled “Directions for Corrections.” These forums will provide a platform for specialists in the public safety, criminal justice, health, education, business, political, and faith based arenas to discuss issues of importance to the residents of Suffolk County and beyond. Each forum will be moderated by Sheriff Cabral.

The first forum, which will be held at Roxbury Community College in the Media Arts Center from 6–8 PM, is titled “The Hand that Rocks the Cradle: The Rise of the Female Offender.” This discussion will explore the factors that create a female offender and address the alarming rise in crime among females. Nationwide, the number of female arrests has risen, particularly in the 15–24 year–old age range. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reports, the total number of arrests made in 2004 was approximately 7.8% higher than the total in 2000. Among females age 15–24 however, arrests increased by about 15%. This indicates that nationwide, females are being arrested for a greater percentage of crimes. The national trend has been mirrored in the Boston area.

“Each year, we house a greater and greater number of female inmates and detainees,” says Sheriff Cabral. “It’s a very unsettling trend. My goal for ‘Directions for Corrections’ is to bring professionals in the criminal justice and public safety fields together with members of the community to discuss the possible causes of this type of trend, and work to reverse their affects.”

Sheriff Cabral has assembled a panel of five professionals for “The Hand that Rocks the Cradle: The Rise of the Female Offender.” Included are Dr. Deborah Prothrow–Stith, Associate Dean for Harvard School of Public Health, John Auerbach, Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission, Robert Lewis, Director of Boston Centers for Youth and Families, Paul Joyce Jr, Superintendent and Chief of Investigative Services for the Boston Police Department, and Monica Fernandez–Castro, Regional Clinical Director for the Massachusetts Department of Social Services.

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