Juvenile arrests have skyrocketed in the District this year, and city officials are bracing for the hot Washington summer when teens have extra time on their hands.
The number of children under 18 arrested and charged with violent crimes -- homicide, rape and aggravated assault -- has risen 10 percent this year compared with last year.
Burglary arrests of juveniles jumped 90 percent, while thefts shot up 173 percent.
| Then and now | ||||||
| Charge | 2010 | 2011 | % Change | |||
| Agg. Assault | 42 | 38 | - 9.5 | |||
| Burglary | 21 | 40 | + 90.5 | |||
| Fugitives | 18 | 268 | +1,389 | |||
| Homicide | 6 | 6 | 0 | |||
| Theft | 22 | 60 | +173 | |||
| Other assaults | 153 | 258 | +69 | |||
| Rape | 1 | 10 | +900 | |||
| Robbery | 122 | 135 | +11 | |||
| Weapons | 42 | 50 | +8 | |||
| Source: Metropolitan Police Department, through May 7 | ||||||
Teenagers have played prominently in D.C. crimes that recently garnered national headlines. A 16-year-old from Southeast Washington allegedly stabbed another teenager four times at the National Zoo last month; an 18-year-old is accused of severely beating a corrections officer at the New Beginnings Youth Center; and a high school basketball star with a $50,000 academic scholarship was shot to death while trying to buy a gun for himself.
More young people are ending up homicide victims, too. Of the first 34 people killed in the city in 2011, 13 were 21 and younger. A year ago during the same time, there were 32 slayings, and 10 victims were 21 or younger.
William Chambliss, a criminal justice professor at George Washington University, said many factors may explain the increase in arrests, from reporting issues to police policies to an increase in the number of people in the age group.
"This may be like a stock market goes up and down," he said.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier did not respond to a request for comment on the increase in juvenile crime and how the city planned to address the problem.
D.C. Councilman Jim Graham said the numbers underscore the need to reform the D.C. juvenile justice system and "send a message that crime has consequences."
"We've moved too far toward permissiveness," said Graham, the new chairman of the committee that oversees the Department of Youth Rehabilitative Services.
For example, Graham said, teenage offenders who recommit crimes while at the New Beginnings Youth Center are routinely ordered to remain in their rooms for two or three nights.
On April 28, a juvenile offender at the youth center who threw a rock at a correctional officer was ordered to sit down with the corrections officer for mediation, he said. The officer declined.
"Mediation? That's not appropriate, that's assault on a police officer, that's a felony in the District of Columbia," Graham said. "We're sending these kids back into the neighborhoods with the message that they are the boss, they've had the opportunity of a little rest and they're back in the action."
D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson was not alarmed by the juvenile crime statistics and said overall violent crime across the District was down by 8 percent.
Juvenile crimes tend to be cyclical, Mendelson said. In the summer of 2006, then-D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey declared an expensive crime emergency, and in 2008, Lanier closed off the streets to outsiders in the Trinidad neighborhood after a spate of gang-related shootings, he said.
"I don't see anything in these numbers that's extraordinary compared to previous years other than that, overall, the numbers are down," he said. "The juvenile numbers tell us that there needs to be more focus on juveniles."
Ronald Moten, head of Peaceoholics, said he fears that the summer is going to get worse, citing a cut in summer jobs for teens, a cut in mental health services for children and families, a rise in PCP use, and an increase in disputes between rival street gangs.
"This is just the beginning," he said.
