Juvenile crime could uptick as school wraps up

DELMARVA – Some students are already out of school and some are wrapping up the school year, law enforcement says this could be a safety issue.

“We’re working hard on all of those things on our end to make sure the trend of juvenile crime does not continue to go up, but instead goes down,” said Cambridge Police Chief Justin Todd.

Law enforcement is on alert for an increase in juvenile crime. “A lot of the children, there’s programs to be involved in the inner area, but it just never seems to be enough,” said Chief Todd. “There is the potential such children and kids are out of school there. There’s other things for them to get into,” said Delaware State Police Corporal Lewis Briggs.

Chief Justin Todd says he sees juveniles as young as 11 to 16 years old committing crimes. Delaware State Police like Cambridge Police say they’re seeing a range of different types of offenses. “You know, and in our recent years, we had a problem with juvenile crime, actually car thefts and theft from vehicles,” said Chief Todd. “Unfortunately, we see all types of crime involving youth from violent crimes to property damage type crimes. And these offenses are not just during the summer months, but throughout the year,” said Corporal Briggs.

Chief Todd says with legislation changing around juvenile crime in Maryland, he believes kids are more likely to re-offend. It’s something he’s hoping to see change to reduce crime rates. “Certainly your younger group is – we’ve had problems with before due to new juvenile laws. You know, if you’re 11 years old, certainly we can’t do anything but send you home now that them laws will be changing for certain crimes and we’ll look forward to that,” said Chief Todd.

To keep the juvenile crime rates low, Delaware State Police Corporal Lewis Briggs recommends keeping kids active. “We encourage parents to keep their children involved in activities such as sports and summer programs,” said Corporal Briggs.

Chief Justin Todd says Cambridge Police Department will be hosting pop-up events and activities, with food to feed the youth. The juvenile curfew is also still in effect in Cambridge.

Corporal Lewis Briggs also encourages parents to pay attention to what children are doing on social media and the people they hang out with.