Experts: Can’t arrest way out of youth crime

Juvenile justice experts in the state agree that more needs to be done to prevent minors from ending up in the criminal justice system, but largely disagree on what should happen after a minor is caught doing a crime.

“It will be challenging, from a policy perspective, to arrest our way out of this problem,” Ken Barone, the associate director of the University of Connecticut’s Institute for Municipal and Regional Policy, said at forum on juvenile crime held in Fairfield on Thursday night.

Six panelists involved in the criminal justice system debated their perspectives on juvenile crime and how to address it — with car thefts being a central theme of the discussion. The panel was organized by state Reps. Jennifer Leeper and Cristin McCarthy Vahey, both D-Fairfield.

The police officers in attendance said there have to be consequences for these crimes, while advocates said children need support and punishment cannot always result in a positive change for a child who is in crisis.

Barone said context is important when looking at crime data. He noted there was an uptick in crime in May 2020, as lockdowns due to the pandemic became a widespread policy across the country.

He said there were more auto thefts across the U.S. and Europe, with a 35 percent increase in Connecticut between 2019 and 2020. Notably, he said, 2019 saw the fewest number of auto thefts ever recorded in the state.

The FBI reported 5,452 car thefts in 2019.

“It’s important to understand that, when looking at auto thefts in 2020 compared to 2019, you’re comparing it to the lowest year on record,” he said. “The highest year on record was 1991, when there was just over 26,000 cars stolen in the state of Connecticut that year.”

In 2020, Barone said, there were approximately 8,400 car thefts in the state. He said most of the increase is due to cars being left unlocked and key fobs being left inside the vehicle.

Juvenile involvement

When looking at juveniles, Barone said people under the age of 18 made up only 241, or 36 percent, of the 671 car theft-related arrests last year. That percentage is nearly the same as it was in 2019.

Barone also noted most juvenile justice reforms in Connecticut, such as raising the age of juvenile offenders to 18 and changing how long juveniles could be detained by law enforcement, occurred about a decade ago. He said there is misinformation about the justice system having an inability to lock up high-risk youth.

But two Fairfield police officers offered a different perspective. Detectives Beth Leetch and George Buckmir both said the last couple of years have been some of the most challenging of their 24 years on the force. They said the courts will not take low-level crimes such as shoplifting or possession of alcohol, which they said is emboldening young offenders.

“There’s really no teeth,” Leetch said, later adding that parents come to her stressed about what their children’s behavior could lead to.

Buckmir, who investigates car thefts in Fairfield, said there had been 101 such thefts in Fairfield in 2021 as of Thursday night. One issue, he said, is the burden of proof is higher than it used to be, and that, along with lax laws, is enabling kids.

“In a lot of these cases, I know who the kids are. I know who stole that car. I just can’t prove it,” he said. “When we talk about proof in the juvenile justice system, we’re not talking about probable cause. We’re talking about proof beyond a reasonable doubt.”