Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officers have seen a tremendous spike in crimes committed by juveniles. However, the courts are not holding these kids accountable for their behavior. If you think the adult criminal justice system is bad, the North Carolina juvenile criminal justice system is far worse!The juvenile court system was one of the topics we discussed with lawmakers in Raleigh last week. The state is responsible for funding the Department of Juvenile Justice; which includes the juvenile courts, programs and jails. If you read the following information, you will understand why this is such a serious issue in Charlotte and across the state of North Carolina.
CMPD Juvenile Arrest Stats (2006):
► Charlotte-Mecklenburg police arrested 4,284 juveniles in 2006.
► 168 of the juvenile arrests were for robbery.
► 20% of the juvenile arrests are suspected gang members.
► 20% of the robberies arrests are associated with gang activity.
► 4 juveniles were arrested for murder.
► 348 of the juvenile arrests were drug related.
► 451 juveniles were arrested for charges of murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault.
► 928 juveniles were arrested for burglary, larceny, vehicle theft and arson.
► Most juvenile crimes are committed between the hours of 3:00-4:00pm on school days.
► When juveniles are arrested and taken to a detention center, they are not and can not be fingerprinted or photographed.
Here is the kicker… the Mecklenburg County Jail has 30 beds available for juvenile boys and 0 beds for juvenile girls. (A juvenile bed would be for any youthful offender under the age 16.)
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Stephens spoke to the Charlotte City Council on January 2, 2007 about the juvenile justice system in Mecklenburg County. He made it quite clear we have a serious disconnect in the juvenile system and these kids are getting away with it since the justice system doesn't punish them.The following is what Chief Stephens told the City Council:
“It is very difficult to hold a young person accountable for almost any behavior that they engage in. If you steal a car, you are not likely to even see a judge in Mecklenburg County about that. That is a divertible offense. In fact, you can steal a whole bunch of cars before you actually have any time before a judge or before anything might potentially happen to you through the juvenile justice system.”
"I think that there should never be a time that a child commits any kind of serious crime that there is not some kind of consequences for that. What we have in our community in our state today is for the most part there are no consequences until you get so far down the road and so brazen and immune to the system that you are pretty much a lost soul by the time you get to the point where you qualify for any kind of intervention that has any consequences or any kind of meaning to it." Source: 1/2/07 City Council Meeting Minutes
If this is something that concerns you, please contact elected officials and let them know how you feel. Links: 2007-2008 Mecklenburg Delegation, NC Leadership, CinC's Elected Officials Info