‘Begin to look at making some changes’

Town officials ask state to address ‘juvenile justice insufficiencies’

CROMWELL — The town has joined four neighboring communities in calling on Gov. Ned Lamont and the General Assembly to revisit legislation that reclassified 18-year-olds as juveniles.

Action by the legislature in 2012 raised the age of juveniles from 16 to 18.

Town officials allege the change in the system has caused confusion in policing and criminal justice systems and “has emboldened criminal behavior and left residents vulnerable and afraid.” The council specifically referenced a spate of car thefts and car break-ins and related thefts by youths, including groups of youths.

Mayor Enzo Faienza said the idea for the resolution came “in discussions with Mayor Lisa J. Marotta from Rocky Hill and Mayor Michael L. Rell from Wethersfield.

“We came up with the idea of doing a resolution from each town. We also reached out to Newington and Berlin mayors (Beth DelBuono and Mark Kaczynski respectively) also joined,” he said. All five of the mayors are Republicans.

“The goal is the hope the Governor and the Legislature will begin to look at making some changes. Car break-ins and thefts are skyrocketing, and many times they are being performed by minors. When they are caught, they are right back out (on the streets again),” Faienza said in an email.

A spokesman for Lamont’s office had not provided a comment by deadline.

The statement was signed on behalf of the council by Faienza and Town Manager

Anthony J. Salvatore.

Before becoming the town manager, Salvatore was the town’s police chief.

In an interview, Salvatore said, “As someone who has supported juvenile justice reform, in the years since these changes were enacted, some of them have not worked out as we had hoped they would.”

“Therefore, they need to be revisited before there are any additional problems – or incidents,” he said.

Concerns about the issue have previously been raised with lawmakers, the resolution says.

“We have witnessed a pattern of criminal behavior across Connecticut, and in Cromwell, consisting of groups of young

people, juveniles to late teens, entering our neighborhoods in groups, in search of unlocked vehicles, smashing car windows to gain access to locked vehicles, stealing valuables and where either the keys or a fob are located, stealing the vehicle.”

The situation allegedly has “escalated to the point of a report of shots fired at a resident attempting to intervene during the commission of one such crime,” the statement says. It notes the town’s proximity to Interstate 91 and Route and the “prime access” as a “target for criminal activity.”

The council urged Lamont and legislators – to “recognize that matters pertaining to juvenile justice insufficiencies, escalating crime, and public safety have resulted in serious consequences to the citizens of Cromwell, the town itself, and its law enforcement.”

The statement notes current policing “standards prevent officers from, among other things, engaging in pursuit,” and that subsequently, officers find “themselves being baited by drivers of suspicious vehicles to engage in pursuit.”

The four-page statement, which was adopted by the council by a vote of 6-1, calls on the officials to “address these problems with meaningful, impactful juvenile justice reform that balances the need to protect our youth with the need to protect our residents.”

In examples, the resolution says the change in age from 16 to 18: “has resulted in confusion regarding police interrogation, secure holding, release options, and disclosing names in police reports and affidavits when a 16 or 17 year is both a juvenile and an adult at the same time, in the same case, as some offenses are to be charged as juvenile matters while others are to be charged as adult matters.”

It says, among many other concerns, that “a court order is now required to place any juvenile in juvenile detention center, regardless of the seriousness of the charge,: that “all offenses, such as truancy, runaway, beyond control and indecent/immoral behavior, within the Families with Service Needs (FWSN) are no longer handled by the juvenile court and instead are now sent to their respective local Youth Service Bureau.”

The issue have increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemics, town officials said.

The council says in the resolution it “supports and strongly encourages a meeting with the governor to partner and identify solutions in the best interest of all stakeholders.”

The Town Council “is unwilling to wait until someone gets hurt, or a significant incident occurs to seek accountability for the problems with the juvenile justice system that are creating havoc in our town.”

Faienza