A Hollywood producer was in Buffalo today, talking “a message of understanding.”
William Rowland believes this message is vital in stemming the rise of juvenile delinquency — and he believes movies can help spread the word.
Two years in preparing his latest picture, “This Rebel Breed,” based on case histories among high school pupils from the International Association of Chiefs of Police, have given him other ideas on meeting the problem of juvenile delinquency. It opens tomorrow in the Paramount Theater.
He believes police divisions dealing with young people should be staffed by relatively-young officers and that judges of youth courts should be younger men — “not case hardened.”
Mr. Rowland had luncheon in the Statler Hilton with Children’s Court Judge Leon W. Paxon.
Judge Paxon, who this week reported a decline of 21% in the number of children appearing in his court during 1959, said he is “hopeful but not certain that the decline will continue.”
Judge Paxon emphasized the potential role of the entertainment field in lowering juvenile crime.
“Certainly, the newspapers, television and movies can play an important part in bringing the problem to the attention of the public and pointing possible avenues of correction,” he said.
