By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates (D) held his second annual Solutions Pact Town Hall on May 20 in Northeast Baltimore.
“Juvenile crime remains one of the most pressing issues in our city,” said Bates during the event at Huber Memorial Church. “People say juvenile crime is down, but for me and our office, it’s not.”
According to Bates, 303 individuals were arrested and charged with juvenile offenses in Baltimore City in 2022. That total more than doubled in 2023, rising to 637, and continued to increase in 2024, reaching 1,126 young people charged with juvenile offenses.
Maryland has seen a 26 percent decrease in juvenile homicide arrests and a 46 percent reduction in non-fatal shootings of youth, said Carter Elliott, the governor’s senior press secretary, in a 2024 statement to the AFRO.
Bates laid out some of his solutions for the youth crime issue, including ensuring faith institutions are involved, supporting grassroots organizations that are already doing the work and improving the juvenile system.
Baltimore is a majority Black city, 61.3 percent, of whom make up a significant portion of those in the criminal system.
The event drew in a large crowd, allowing younger and older residents to ask a panel of city officials and community leaders questions around how the city is handling juvenile crime and how parents and children can access city resources. Leaders and attendees also offered several solutions to juvenile crime at the town hall.
Kamyra Gaters, 16, questioned leaders about the effectiveness of jailing youth and a lack of certain resources in schools.
“What makes you all think that locking us up, at a time when a child starts to become rebellious, helps us in anything?” asked Kamyra. “Someone said our cities get paid the most resources and funding… that can’t be possible. For one, we have terrible school lunches and the teachers don’t get paid enough.”
“You all are here holding this meeting, but you guys aren’t coming to us, asking us what the problem is,” said Kamyra.
Lisa Reynolds, chief of Youth and Community Partnerships at the Baltimore Police Department (BPD), highlighted that laws have to be adhered to and the police can’t ignore that.
“If certain crimes are committed, BPD is required to bring you to the Juvenile Justice Center for processing,” said Reynolds. “I think what is necessary is services.”
“We can’t just treat the person,” added Reynolds. “We have to treat the family, and the community has to be present for all.”
Rashad Staton, executive director of Community Law in Action (CLIA), responded, encouraging Kamyra and other young people to join youth advisory boards to ensure their voices are heard. CLIA is a nonprofit organization that empowers youth to become leaders in their communities.
“You have the Police Youth Advisory Board, the Baltimore City Youth Commission…all of these are city-wide youth councils, where you become a part of the decision-making table, and you’re protected legally through policy to tell your truth,” said Staton. “They are obligated to listen to you and come up with solutions.”
Jeneen McFarlane, 42, asked city leaders about what the city is doing about successfully reintegrating youth through job placements or vocational training to ensure youth become thriving adults.
“I hear a lot about prevention, but what happens after a juvenile gets into the system and comes out?” said McFarlene. “After someone gets a stain on their record, they’re deemed unworthy. After you get that stain on your record, how do you get a job?”
Jeffrey Shorter, City Schools’ chief of police, responded, highlighting programs in place for youth in schools.
“We have a program called the Re-Engagement Center within the Baltimore City Public Schools,” said Shorter. “When they come home, a stain is not a stain, it’s just a dot. It can be erased with good behavior.”
Shorter said youth should focus on becoming a good student first, before being concerned about work opportunities in the future.
“Reintegration starts at home first,” said Shorter. “Secondly, when we get your young people, we do the things that are necessary with the re-education, which a lot of them don’t have.”
Melody Mitchell, Kamyra’s mother, disagreed with the idea that the solution lies at home first.
“It’s always criminalizing the parents, but never seeing where the trauma starts,” said Mitchell, 33, to the AFRO. “You have to start from the top and work your way down to the bottom.”
As someone who was previously arrested as a juvenile herself, Mitchell pressed that the children committing these crimes aren’t bad.
“They want to feel like they’re loved,” said Mitchell. “They don’t feel safe to come in and talk to any adult in their life. They don’t feel safe to go to the authorities or their teachers.”
Bates acknowledged the need for juveniles committing crimes to receive the proper support to change their ways, but pressed the need to also support the victims.
“This isn’t about locking up young people, but sometimes young people have to have that time out to understand their actions,” said Bates. “We have to give them the services that they need, but sometimes they won’t sit still long enough to get the services.”
To this, Mitchell shared her experience of being arrested and how it impacted her.
“When you get arrested, people forget about you,” said Mitchell. “I have severe PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) that I know for a fact has trickled down to my daughter. Some nights I can’t even sleep by myself. ”
Mitchell suggests that city officials meet kids where they are and experience what the youth have to go through, in order to truly solve the juvenile crime issues in the city.