Franklin County police chiefs seek meeting on juvenile crime
The Franklin County Police Chiefs Association is calling on county juvenile court judges to hold a large meeting of stakeholders to discuss the continuing surge in juvenile carjackings and thefts.
The meeting request was made publicly when police chiefs from across Franklin County gathered Thursday to discuss the one-month progress of “Operation Game Over,” an enforcement effort targeting juvenile crime across central Ohio.
Mike Crispen, Whitehall’s police chief and president of the Franklin County Police Chiefs Association, said in Whitehall the number of stolen cars in a four-week period was reduced from 23 to four. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the crime isn’t moving to other areas of central Ohio or beyond because of more aggressive tactics being used in Whitehall.
“I’m hoping that’s not necessarily what’s happened, but it could be,” Crispen said. “I hope it doesn’t become the whole state has to start working on juvenile crime.”
On Feb. 18, police chiefs from across central Ohio announced “Operation Game Over” to target juvenile crime, particularly purse snatchings and car thefts.
Jeff Spence, Gahanna’s police chief, said within the last week, a Kroger employee was carjacked outside the store at 300 South Hamilton Road — located just across Rocky Fork Boulevard from the city’s police station.
“What is very real for our residents is the fear of crime,” Spence said.
On Wednesday night, a 15-year-old was arrested by the sheriff ’s office after stealing a car in Gahanna, Spence said. That teen then admitted to more than 50 other similar instances, ranging from carjackings to stealing running cars.
Around the same time Wednesday night, Crispen said Whitehall police pursued a stolen vehicle, finding a 13year-old and two 15-year-olds inside, along with a firearm near the driver’s side of the car.
“Our officers were asking, ‘Why, why do you have a gun?’” Crispen said. “It makes them look cool was the answer. Because it makes me look cool. It’s fun for some of them. They’re having a blast and living kind of risky.”
Crispen said police are worried that an officer is going to be put in a tragic situation.
“We have 13-year-olds driving vehicles problem one, driving them fast and recklessly, and in this case, they had a firearm in the vehicle, by the driver’s side,” Crispen said. “Every law enforcement
officer could say the same thing — we’re worried about being in a position where worst case scenario happens.”
Franklin County Sheriff ’s Chief Deputy Jim Gilbert said the communication between law enforcement agencies has also helped more juveniles suspects be identified.
“They’re going to get someone killed,” Gilbert said of the reckless juveniles. “They’re not taking these cars to joyride. These are repeat offenders. It’s not rocket science.”
Crispen said the chiefs association, along with community leaders, will be calling for a large stakeholder meeting involving law enforcement, faith leaders, prosecutors, judges and others invested in the juvenile justice system and juvenile services to discuss how to continue to resolve the rise in juvenile crime.
“If we got together as a group and had a personal conversation as adults, very quickly we could bring this down,” he said.
Judge Elizabeth Gill, Franklin County Juvenile Court’s lead judge, told The Dispatch in an email that she was unaware of the latest update on Operation Game Over but was supportive of a stakeholders meeting.
“I think I speak on behalf of all us here that the Franklin County Juvenile Court always supports collaborative efforts to address the issues troubling our families and our children,” she wrote. “As has been discussed numerous times it is the very foundation of this court’s approach to juvenile justice and will continue to be central in our ongoing work.”
Hours after the Feb. 18 press conference announcing “Operation Game
Over,” the Juvenile Court judges issued a statement calling statements by police about juvenile offenders being set loose “propaganda” aimed at promoting an outdated “touch love” approach to juvenile offenders.
“Our communities should be weary of recent demands calling for the deleterious and unnecessary detention of predominately African-american youths and others residing in lower income areas of the county,” according to the statement, which was primarily authored by Judge Kim Browne, administrative judge of the juvenile court, and signed off on by the other judges.
In the wake of the public spat, Franklin County juvenile court held a meeting March 3 of a stakeholders committee that oversees what is known as the county’s Detention Screening Instrument, or DSI — a scoring system used when juveniles are arrested to determine whether they should be held at the detention center or released pending a court appearance.
Columbus police, the Columbus City Schools, the county prosecutor and public defender’s offices, as well as the juvenile court, are among the groups with representatives on the DSI committee.
But the meeting proposed by Crispen and the police chiefs association would be larger with faith leaders and more stakeholders involved.
“When communities and elected officials support law enforcement, it’s amazing how safe your cities can become,” Crispen said.
Dispatch reporter John Futty contributed to this report. bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner