Milwaukee alderman: More resources needed to head off spike in juvenile crime

A Milwaukee city official is calling for more resources to combat high levels of juvenile crime, including reckless driving and vehicle theft.

In a committee of the Common Council Thursday, Ald. Michael Murphy said it’s obvious the "system’s not working" and urged city and Milwaukee County officials to work more closely together to find solutions.

"That’s just not an acceptable solution to allow the status quo to continue," he said.

Also at the meeting were District Attorney John Chisholm and Milwaukee County Chief Circuit Judge Mary Triggiano, who said the pandemic has contributed to increased caseloads and stretched resources.

"Since the pandemic has hit and the violence has risen and other kinds of cases, they're holding more youth in the detention center than ever before," Triggiano said.

Reports of vehicle theft have risen dramatically in Milwaukee, more than doubling from 2020 to 2021. Nearly 10,500 vehicles were reported stolen citywide in 2021, compared with about 4,500 in 2020, according to data from the Milwaukee Police Department.

People as young as 12 have been caught stealing cars and using them for joyriding and driving dangerously.

In some cases, it has ended fatally. In July, a 16-year-old died and five others were badly injured when a stolen vehicle crashed into another vehicle head-on. In October, a 13-year-old boy, Jayden Adams, was arrested and charged as an adult, accused of stealing a woman's vehicle and running her over with it, killing her.

Some community members have expressed frustration with young people who have stolen vehicles over and over again. They say they would like to see reasonable, but greater consequences for young people caught stealing cars.

Chisholm said one of his concerns is some youth who commit lower-level offenses are released back into the community without being immediately connected to help or services.

"We want the option at the lower end to begin intervention as quickly as the police officer encounters the youth," he said.

In response, Murphy is pushing for the county to open a juvenile reception center, a facility for youth who commit lower-level offenses that would assess them and connect them and their families with resources in the hopes of preventing them from committing more serious crimes.

Murphy said if the county wants to pursue the project, he would be willing to propose spending some of the city’s federal pandemic aid on the project.

At Thursday's committee meeting, county officials said they were looking into Murphy’s proposal and that they had looked at similar initiatives implemented in other cities.

"I think what is most important is to do what makes the most sense for Milwaukee, and those discussions are still being had," said David Muhammad, deputy director of the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services.

Murphy said the city would not help with operational costs, but could pitch in on capital costs. At the meeting, he did not give a specific dollar figure that he would be willing to propose.

"I think everyone agrees that while we need a place for young people who are at risk to themselves and to the public, we would much rather spend the money on programming and supports for those young people in the community rather than brick and mortar," Muhammad added.

Chisholm said he thinks a juvenile reception center would allow workers to intervene before a young person got too seriously involved in the youth justice system.

"If this is the second time a kid's been caught in a stolen car, that ought to send some red flags," he said.

Sarah Volpenhein is a Report for America corps reporter who focuses on news of value to underserved communities for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Email her at [email protected]. Please consider supporting journalism that informs our democracy with a tax-deductible gift to this reporting effort at JSOnline.com/RFA.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee alderman requests resources to stem spike in juvenile crime