What are the racial disparities when it comes to black children being charged as adults?

We checked with Bay Area counties to find out if black juveniles were charged as adults at higher rates than their white counterparts.

Pasco and Pinellas County State Attorney Bernie McCabe said his office doesn’t keep track of those numbers. He also said race does not play a factor when it comes to charging juveniles as adults. 

The Department of Juvenile Justice does keep track of those numbers for every county in the state.

According to its records, Pinellas County transferred 63 juveniles to adult court in 2018 and 2019.

Of them, 82.5% were black.

McCabe said they’re just dealing with what comes through the door, and he doesn’t plan to change his policies because of those high numbers of black juveniles charged as adults.

We looked at Hillsborough County’s numbers for juveniles charged as adults, and the numbers there were high too. There is, however, a downward trend of Black juveniles transferred to adult court.

Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren said that’s because he made it his mission when he was elected to help reduce those numbers. 

Click on the video above for more insight and context on this issue.