Solutions Sought To Pandemic Juvenile-Crime Spike

This sounds EXACTLY like the role of the YouthStat program - has that program continued or did Elicker give it the axe?

Sometimes the people who are hardest to live are the ones who need it the most.
I knew someone when I was in school whose parents kicked him out of the home when he was a teen, not because he was bad, but because his parents couldn't afford to take of him and there were too many people at home, and they figured he was old enough to take care of himself. I knew another child who became legally emancipated because her parents were incapable of taking care of her. There are many children whose parents don't care or are incapable of taking care of their children, add adolescent rebellion and the influence of peers who are up to mischief and trying to prove their manhood and you have a recipe for a child doomed to failure unless a caring adult steps up and turns their life around. The city needs to do more with Project Longevity, anti-violence groups like Ice The Beef, and teen activity organizations like Solar Youth. The community leaders, social influencers and religious leaders need to step up with more teen activities and interventions to give these misdirected teens love and guidance and something positive and constructive to do. It takes a village to raise a child, and if the parents can't raise them properly, then the community needs to step up and step in to help make our community safer and prevent these teens from becoming a statistic.

How about jail?

Thank you CityYankee.
I am far from a Law and Order guy, BUT enough of this feel good BS.
It has been tried and tweaked for 40+ years and all it does is waste taxpayers' money and create jobs for supposedly reformed ne'er do wells.

Time to bring back the likes of the Cheshire Reformatory.
Miscreants off the streets with 24/7 supervision locked away from the citizenry of the city.

@HeatherC The parents kicked the teen out when Welfare stopped paying for a dependent, he aged out of the program.

@ City Yankee: I feel a little chill in the air! How about we try something BEFORE they get to jail to keep them from going to jail where they'll get the skills to be a better criminal? The annual incarceration rate per inmate in CT in FY06 was $44k. If that juvenile continues into adulthood in a life of crime the total external amount would reach $1.5-1.8 million per. $83k-$335k for 14-17 years of age while an adult career criminal adds $1.4million . [ST of CT OLR Research Report 2008-R-0099, Feb 13, 2008). And this does not include the price tag on all the damage they would have caused to people and property along the way. [$165k in victim costs per year of a criminals career]. The $125k received would only keep 2.5 kids in jail. I think the youth programs could probably reach a lot of kids with that number to help KEEP them off that path. Even if you don't have a space in your heart for these kids-youth-juveniles ( and all the innocent people whose lives would possibly be impacted or devastated), just do the math and count up the savings for taxpayers who fund the cost to incarcerate. Sounds like money well spent.

I've been stewing on this since it was first reported here last month.

"The incident occurred in New Haven's Hill neighborhood on the morning of Nov. 18. Officers spotted a stolen 2015 Black Ford Fusion parked, and running, on Greenwood Street. Three people — aged 13, 14, and 15 — were inside. At least one of the teens was asleep. One of the teens withdrew a gun from his waistband. Another had a loaded gun as well."

Police are frustrated that they are arresting the same juveniles over and over for crimes such as these, only to be required to issue them a summons to appear in juvenile court at a later date and turn them over to a parent or guardian. There are precious few crimes for which the "child" can be remanded to one of the two juvenile detention centers.

So, here's a challenge for the NHI investigative reporters. Although the names of these "children" can't be disclosed, make an effort to have the NHPD release the criminal histories of these felons without naming them. See what they had on their records prior to this incident and find out if they are still out and about since. I think you'll be shocked at what you may find.

Dear EX-HVN: I wish I could say I were an ex- New Havener. I believed all the crap about the rebirth of the city and stayed. My Mistake.

Careers and fortunes are made off of rehabilitating and supposedly rehabilitating at risk youthful offenders and at risk not yet offending youth. What generation of this are we on now? 3rd generation of pathologies we can't fix or change. Politicians promise but there is no real desire to fix this or what would all those who live on make job programs like YOUTH STAT & PROJECT LONGEVITY do to make a paycheck. Those folks NEED crime and chaos to have a job.

Let's go to tough on crime, 3 strikes and you're out of society , death penalty. More people than the media will report agree with me and EX-HVN. They are just scared to say so.

Where are the State Senators and State Representatives on this issue? They must be tired and resting from spewing all their hate-filled agendas this year against the police. The police are left to deal with these issues without any support and when something goes wrong with these gun-toting out-of-control juveniles, everyone will come out from the woodworks to protest against them. The police have been saying it all year about these juveniles... Stop slapping these kids on the wrist and give them (and their parents) some accountability, some consequences! If you don't they will get more brazen and more hardened. The cops are doing everything they can, step up and do your jobs legislators, politicians, and service providers. The police are left to deal with the mess created by hand-outs and the climate of lawlessness. Stop the exaggerated feel sorry nonsense and do something. There is no respect in our society anymore because we want to make excuses for everything and everyone. Here are novel concepts: Respect for thy neighbor, moral compass, respect for the rules, lawful behavior, accountability... Enough is enough people.

Connecticut needs a "strand your ground" law. That would put an end to this nonsense.

Cities and towns need vigilance committees to safeguard their residents from these crimes.

Old enough to do the crime, old enough to do the time.

If you feel these are too harsh, then let the kids go free and arrest the parents.

Hill Resident is right- let's try to prevent kids from succumbing to peer pressure and getting into crime. It's far cheaper to keep teens occupied with productive and positive activities, provide guidance and adults they can count on, then it is to incarcerate them the rest of their lives, and society pays the price for the crimes that lead them down that path. Everybody is so eager to lock people away tor life, and pay the extraordinary costs of doing that, than to pay tor intervention, rehabilitation and recreation to keep teens from becoming criminals, when it is actually cheaper to do so in the long term. I agree that these repeat offenders shouldn't just be caught and released over and over again, but I'd much rather they were detained in home-like facilities that addressed the problems that led them to commit these crimes, and through rehabilitation and therapy give them the chance to turn their lives around and aspire for more out of life than their current choices are leading them to.
The police said the parents weren't looking for the children who were missing from their homes, who could be sadder or angrier than a child who knows that nobody cares about them? These teens need firm and compassionate and caring adults from their community to step up, and society to step up and steer them away from this path. Religious leaders need to step up. Community leaders need to step up. Community social influencers need to spread messages discouraging this type of activity and encouraging teens to do more positive things like volunteer, join organizations, and where they can get help. If their parents are a lost cause, then it is up to all of us to intervene.

@ Heather C
Well said.

I am disgusted. 125,000 grant for this crap! How about the kids in poverty that don't go around terrorizing the city and want to do well. How about help them. As far as referencing the teen that was sleeping in a stolen car with a gun and wondering why nobody reported him, his folks probably was sick of him. He probably causes his family problems also. No pat on the back should be given to teens or anyone committing crimes. I won't apologize for that. All this babying to them needs to stop. I guess these may be the kids who aren't logging on to remote learning and probably the reason why many still want officers in the schools.. some of this teens have guns as we all read in this article. But nope catering to the ones who get in trouble, robbing folks. I am annoyed by this.

I hate to say it but I agree with CY. I have had enough of this foolishness. P L has not shown any success with this so let's give them more money? Really?
Right next door there is an adult woman perfectly healthy living in the apt on Sect. 8. Her 27 y.o. perfectly healthy UNEMPLOYED son lives there with her. All he seems to be able to do is smoke weed and ingest chemicals. Just yesterday saw him making a buy on Ramsdell. And now as I sit here on my front porch which I pay money for I can smell the start of the weed. Of course I report it to Pike and of course they do nothing. He would be better served as would we all if he were in jail learning how to do something...anything!

Crime is up with teens because kids are not in school. Kids are not in school because leadership in New Haven was unable to take the reins of rogue school board members, vocal campaign supporters of the Mayor and the teacher's union. If we think this problem is strictly existential, think again and look inward.

Without disparaging anyone involved, the success of Project Longevity is a matter of opinion. The proponents "cherry-pick" the metrics by which the program is evaluated and juxtapose them against basic crime statistics (which, quite frankly, can be whatever you want them to be). In other words, when crime decreases proponents find a way to credit Longevity with the decrease, and when crime goes up proponents find a way not to blame Longevity for the increase. Here in New Haven, a few years ago a guy compiled some very subjective info and put that into APA form on Yale letterhead, so now it's become gospel. Longevity is a good program, but it is not a panacea for reducing crime. Not by a long shot. When trying to figure out why crime has been decreasing for decades, Longevity is merely one of thousands of initiatives listed under the subsection titled CBP Efforts, which is one of nearly thirty reasons criminologist believe are the result of lower crime. The politicians, chiefs and however else should try and expand they way they think beyond the limits of New Haven. This semester, 80% of my students reported significant periods of depression due to virtual learning, lack of human interaction and overall fear of COVID-19, many have discontinued their quest for higher education altogether. Others have regressed from their normal level of academic achievement to the point that we have offered everyone the pass/fail option. In Fairfax, VA, the online learning gap has increased the number of failing students in high school and middle school by 83%. And that school district is far from being alone in it's struggles. Spend the 125k on our kids who are trying to better themselves, not the idiots who want to steal cars and tote guns. Enough of the bullshit already. Maybe someone should remind the people making the decisions that tolerance of anti-social behavior breeds delinquency.

Dear DawnBli--- I'm sorry that it disturbs you to agree with me on anything but, like most people, we are bound to disagree and agree on various things. Now that NH has returned to its Wild West rep., people will be blaming you for hating on a poor young man who is "forced" to smoke weed and use other drugs while sitting at home all day doing nothing. Aren't we haters!!!

Given that this is a small amount of money to deal with very large problems, this seems to me to be a very good use of the funds. Project Longevity is focused on ending gun violence, which is the most serious form of crime we have. It works by identifying people - in this case, young people -- who are at risk of committing or being victims of gun violence, and offers them assistance to turn their lives around, but if the young people choose to remain involved in violence, then enforces the law. I have read reports about Project Longevity, and it has been recognized as an effective program in reducing gun violence in the past. It is based on an approach that that been effective elsewhere. I hope it will be effective under the current difficult circumstances.

Dear Mr. Velleca-- Students have gotten the strong media message to act weak and defeated so the districts and colleges will just pass everybody. They will pass without learning and/or doing the work. How does that help? A society of weaklings won't last long when there are real challenges to overcome-- like war.
Pass 'em all-- that'll cure their depression--- they will pay the true price later on. Cue the Nanny State.

To the Internet--- so restaurants are looking at closure for COVID concerns but schools filled with hundreds of students for 7 hours a day are safe? Stop with the stories of how children are immune. The adults who work with them are not children and they will get very sick . You WISH that you had a union that looked out for the safety and best interests of students and staff. You WISH YOU had a union.
As far as the depression and learning loss and wild children roaming the streets--- where are the parents to comfort and guide and oversee their children?????

ok i will start with PROJECT longevity...NO ONE has ever been able to calculate how many lives saved so to discredit that any effort isnt successful is disgraceful. Crime levels fluctuate for many more reasont han people want to consider. Reality parents working ,single family households, poverty, unumployment, medical conditioning, medicating for anything and everything underthe guise that peole can not be held accountable for their actions,closing of facilities, lack of medical intervention,music, film and least but not last the increase in the number of unaccountable parents
2) as the parent of two teen age boys and guardian of a teen age female I will say that I totally understand and see the depression onset for some but I even question that to the extent of how many were experiencing depression on various levels that we just didnt see because they weren't up under our noses days in and out.( look how much suicide has risen thru the past several years among teenagers.
I however do NOT see the radical alleged decline in their learning. What I see it a DIFFERENT level of learning. This has forced many to stop being hand fed every bit of instruction and knowledge. being held to a specific level of comprehension for things they will never use is self defeating.Kids took home economics and basic math etc. There weren't requirements to take physics and calculus. Everyone was NOT groomed or expected to pass college level entry exams, many opted to for military and labor positions that didnt require exams. Look at all we have spent on over the past 3 decades to increase learning statistic NOT THING has been entirely successful or failing. .

@Dad101

I'll assume you're responding to my post since you've attempted to dissect my statements. First let me start with Project Longevity. You're exactly right, there is not any evidence that the program has saved lives, so your assertion that the program is a success is not credible on it's face. And, for the record, it's also disgraceful to deceive people by touting a program as a success when that is yet to be proven. Let me help you with how this works because you seem to be a bit confused regarding research methods and statistics. To make it simple, you apply certain metrics to a program before and after and then draw a conclusion regarding its success or failure based on the results. The fluctuation of crime has been studied since the inception of criminology and except for poverty, you did not mention any other acceptable reason for this fluctuation. As for what you "don't see" because it's not "up under" your nose, well there are many social scientists who do see depression and regressed learning, and that's a problem. I doubt you're being paid to study these subjects. A response to the ridiculous statement of students being expected to learn "things they'll never use" is not even merited. And inferring that lots of money has been spent on education and nothing has changed in years is ignorant. The fact that kids are now taking calculus as a requirement instead of basic math proves that the education system overall has been improving. If you're going to blow off steam and jump on a soap box, at least do a rudimentary google search of the subject you'd like to comment on.

@CityYankee

In-person schooling would be a start.

1776 is right on the money.
Getting these kids back in school is also the first step in the right direction.

What ever happened to chain gangs? How about we try that for a while so that our troubled youth can see, in public, what happens when they stray off the path?

Prevention programs, intervention programs, youth activity programs help prevent young people from going down the wrong path and keep them from making bad decisions or succumbing to peer pressure, and provide adult guidance and supervision. They benefit good kids as well as troubled kids. Rehabilitation detention programs can help the young people who are already well on their way to a life of crime to address their issues and turn their lives around.
Project longevity helps identify violent trouble makers, and gives them a choice between changing their ways or face the consequences, and then if they pick the wrong choice, puts them away. Ice The Beef and other anti violence organizations work to prevent violence and retaliation and to encourage non violent methods of resolving disputes. Solar Youth and other teen programs gives teens a way for them to improve their neighborhood while earning money and socializing with their peers and provides caring adults to guide and supervise young people in constructive and productive activities. Anyone who steps up and tries to find things to help young people keep busy and out of trouble is part of the solution. Anyone who just wants to lock them up and throw away the key and doesn't want society to do anything to PREVENT young people from getting into trouble, is part of the problem. It takes a village to raise a child, and if the child's parents are incapable or unwilling to raise that child, then society needs to step in. Some wonderful people are coming up with ideas to work with young people to make things better, we need more people to step up.
One thing we don't need is more people who don't care, or don't want want anything to be done to help prevent young people from getting into trouble, they just want to punish and blame.

In person schooling ? How about we look at the kids who are committing the crimes and see how many are truant from school before the pandemic before we try to blame the school system on the acts of juveniles. I think you will see a direct correlation of truancy and failing grades to those kids committing these acts of crime.

The Chief could have said this as well.

I commend the officers for using all strategies and experience to solve this situation without using deadly physical force which could have happened especially after the teen pulled the gun from his waistband.

Maybe he should have sent officers to lock up the parents of these teens for their complete failure to supervise their kids.

Outstanding warrants, gun possession and stolen vehicles and the Chief talks about why no one was caring for these kids. What?

Nice job by the officers who made the arrests.

DCF for the Chief

amazing John D Velleca. You can"t prove it hasnt worked because you will NEVER KNOW how many lives saved but go back to when you were a mere lad walking the 093 . The relationship between the community and the pd was just starting to come together. Those going to and coming from prison had no respect for anything including life and no one was trying to help on either end. You do know many who went thru the system some of which you thank goodness helped put away have since come out and gotten their lives on track and are better for it ,others haven't. Some have become positive members of society thru the help of project longevity giving them a different level of support you have never lowered yourself to be a part of. You only want to get rid of people that aren't ideal . Not everyone is chief material not everyone is disposable. PLEASE humble your perspective and think OUTSIDE your box . Go spend some time with VIP(violence intervention program) go spend some time with Project longevity and SEE the difference..One life is worth saving.." quote from a retired chief of detectives 093 "If you can save one life, if you can positivity influence one from going back you have been successful"As a result of community based policing and other community programs much has changed. Project longevity is one of those programs. You know that Mr Spell has saved children men and women thru out the years in collaboration with this program ,other officers and other programs. Metrics measure many things except those that cant be! Garbage in equals garbage out. I am more than aware of how to analyze and compute algorithms . I said that money had been spent Millions spent to increase SAT scores and graduation rates..the metrics used are and have been skewed . The financial collapse ,the war on drugs, gentrification all factors never used in those metrics.

As a scientist, I will agree that it is difficult to prove that Project Longevity reduced gun violence because it was not set up as a controlled experiment (similar cities with and without PL followed by tracking gun violence). However, an independent study from Yale evaluated PL from 2012 to 2016 in New Haven and said this: "Controlling for the possibility of a non-New Haven specific decline in gun violence, a decrease in group offending patterns, and the limitations of police-defined GMI categorization of shootings and homicides, the results of our analysis show that Longevity is associated with a reduction of almost five GMI incidents per month. These findings bolster the growing body of research confirming the efficacy of focused deterrence approaches to reducing gun violence, and suggest the need for further research on similar initiatives across the varying contexts in which they are implemented." GMI incidents = group member involved shootings and homicides. 5 fewer shootings per month would be a lot! You can find the full report here: https://isps.yale.edu/research/publications/isps15-024.