Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 18, 1994 TAG: 9405180092
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Most of those attending Tuesday night's seminar on "Violence and Youth: Reversing the Trend" guessed more than 60 percent.
In fact, 12 percent of serious crimes are committed by juveniles.
"The current perception of a crisis in juvenile violence is due, in large part, to the fact that the violence is escalating and that America's youth are being killed in record numbers," said John J. Wilson, acting administrator of the federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
As guest speaker at the seminar, sponsored by the Mental Health Association of Roanoke Valley, Wilson said the single biggest impact on juvenile violence has been the availability of firearms. In the 1980s, the rate of firearm-related homicides of young people ages 15 to 19 increased 61 percent.
Similar statistics in Roanoke show that weapon offenses among juveniles have steadily increased. Ten years ago, police arrested 42 juveniles for weapon offenses. They confiscated pocket knifes and martial arts paraphernalia, Lt. J.E. Dean of the youth bureau said earlier Tuesday. A very small portion of the weapons were guns, he said.
In 1993, of the 75 weapon offenses in the city among juveniles, most involved guns or look-alikes, he said.
Early Friday at the Regional Alternative Center at 1601 Carroll Avenue N.W., a 13-year-old boy was charged with possessing a firearm. An officer driving by saw him with a magazine clip for a 9 mm handgun. The officer confiscated the clip and found a 9 mm handgun in the school's kitchen.
"According to some of the kids we deal with, they can go out and in 30 minutes get any type of weapon they want," Dean said. "I think it's basically a comment on society and that guns are more available."
Coupled with the increase in weapons is the increase in drug activity. In 1983, there were 32 juveniles in Roanoke arrested for drug offenses. A decade later, 68 were arrested, Dean said.
While larcenies and burglaries decreased among juveniles in the Roanoke area, aggravated crimes - such as assaults and robberies - nudged upward.
The key is prevention, not necessarily punishment, Wilson said Tuesday night. His department is pumping more money into federally funded programs that will help communities establish programs to strengthen families, support social organizations and promote early intervention.
Early intervention has played a major role in decreasing crime among the 10-and-under age group during the last decade, Dean said. In 1983, the police arrested 258 children under the age of 10 for a variety of offenses. In 1993, that figure dropped to 112.
by CNB