Baltimore City council members convened a hearing earlier this week to learn more about how agencies are tackling a surge in auto-thefts and carjackings in the city.
While not the specific stated purpose of the meeting, leaders and agencies focused specifically on discussing the role of youth in those crimes. That meeting included representatives from the Baltimore Police Department, the Department of Juvenile Services, the city’s Department of Transportation and the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE).
The state Department of Juvenile Services refers Baltimore City youth to the state’s attorney's office at twice the rate of anywhere else in Maryland, according to DJS deputy secretary Lisa Garry. The department refers two-thirds of city youth auto-theft arrests to the state’s attorney and 97% of youth carjackings. Of those referrals, about five percent of youth arrested for car-theft ended up in DJS custody while that number was higher for carjackings at around 36%, according to DJS.
For cases that don’t get referred to the state’s attorney, Garry said many of those youth will end up in detention alternatives, like home detention or being referred to a mix of what she described as “evidence-based” services.
“One of the misconceptions that we have [is]... just because police see them [youth offenders] the next business day does not mean [there] has not been a response from us,” said Garry. “... they could have an ankle monitor on, they could be in community detention, they could be in the evening reporting center.”
Overall crime committed by youth is down in Maryland, but auto-thefts and carjackings have seen a spike this year in Baltimore City, according to the Baltimore police. That coincides with national trends– in part thanks to a viral social media challenge that teaches viewers how to exploit anti-theft measures in Kia and Hyundai vehicles.
The city council hearing on car theft came two days after Mayor Brandon Scott announced increased efforts to combat the surge in auto-related crimes. At that time, police Commissioner Richard Worley shared that 660 people have been arrested for stealing cars in the city this year. Over 200 of those were juveniles and under half of those juvenile arrests were in carjacking and robbery cases, he said.
Baltimore lawmakers expressed particular concern over the approximately 30 youth who have reportedly been apprehended multiple times for carjacking and auto theft.
“I called this hearing today, because we are having a crisis around young people that are committing very violent crimes, being arrested and then not being fully held accountable. I am deeply concerned about very high rates of recidivism, particularly as it relates to car thefts, carjackings, car related crimes, particularly involving young offenders,” said Councilmember Zeke Cohen of District One, who is also running for City Council president. Cohen’s district has seen a number of high-profile carjacking incidents, including a late August carjacking that resulted in the death of Darrell Benner, a 57-year-old Canton resident and father. There have been no arrests in that case and eyewitnesses described the perpetrators as “men.”
Cohen expressed a strong desire for agencies like MONSE, DJS, and the police to work together in more coordinated responses to tackle the problem, particularly for when auto-related crimes are committed by youth offenders.
Joshua Rovner at the Sentencing Project, a decarceration research and advocacy group, worries the spike will lead to harsher penalties for youth.
“In Baltimore, specifically, the percent of arrests that are people under 18 is about five percent of all arrests. That's a lower proportion than it was 10 years ago, or five years ago,” he said. “So I think this idea that kids are to blame for what's happening in Baltimore and elsewhere, is a handy excuse.”
Recent data from DJS shows that youth are more likely to be victims of a violent crime than to commit one.
