There was a time when young people would land in “juvee” for crimes as minor as shoplifting, marijuana use and fights on school grounds. That approach existed even when Tamara Gusman-Taylor, director of Martinez’s Juvenile Hall, started working in juvenile justice 18 years ago.

But times have changed.

“That’s not the juvenile halls of today — it’s not what you see in the movies or on TV,” Gusman-Taylor said. “We have young people that are the most serious felony offenders that we are trying to rehabilitate.”

That’s why Esa Ehmen-Krause, who was appointed Contra Costa County’s Chief Probation Officer in 2020, finds symbolism in the planned demolition of the county’s old juvenile hall — built in the 1950s and expanded in the 1970s to house hundreds of young offenders. Tearing down the bui

See Full Page