Cambridge: “Our children are screaming out for help”
CAMBRIDGE, Md. – The City of Cambridge saw a string of crime over the weekend.
Cambridge Police Chief Justin Todd tells us the focus is now on youth outreach as he says a good portion of the city’s crime is committed by young people.
“Our children are screaming out for help,” Omeaka Jackson, CEO of Harvesting Hope Youth and Family Wellness said.
In the last 3 days, 4 incidents involving crime committed by youth have happened in Cambridge. “We had a string of robberies and also a shot fire calls in one incident a subject was shot in the arm, non life threatening,” Cambridge Police Chief Justin Todd said.
All of the incidents happening within a 5 mile radius. Cambridge Police Chief Justin Todd says the suspects are still at large. “But still the concerning fact that the suspects are anywhere from 13 to 15 years of age and that’s definitely a concern to have in our community with children having hand guns and using them,” he said.
Although the suspects are juveniles, they could still be facing charges. “It depends on the age of the juvenile anything younger than 13 unless it’s an act of violence or crime of violence the child can’t be charged. Now 13 or older if it’s a crime of violence such as a shooting then the child can be charged,” the Chief said.
Because two of the incidents happened at the same location, police believe this was not just a random act of violence. Omeaka Jackson with Harvesting Hope, Youth and Family Wellness believes the violence amongst youth is on the rise because of a lack of care. “A lot of our young people are experiencing trauma at home and in the community and it’s from child abuse, sexual abuse, bullying, emotional abuse, and so now it’s spilling out,” Jackson said.
Jackson says it’s up to the community to lift youth in Cambridge up in order to move forward. “Healing, how do you heal a community? And part of that is making amends, taking ownership, normalizing apologies and things of that nature. The other part of that is providing mental health services, or supportive services,” Jackson said.
Police say there is no threat to the public at this time, but are still looking for the 3 suspects. Meanwhile, community members I spoke with worry that crime will only rise with the summer temperatures.
Community advocates say for those who can’t afford therapy, there are other options. Those include youth groups, mentoring, and creating learning environments that keep kids experiences, and even trauma in mind.
