Juvenile crime in Mecklenburg County suggests a need for more juvenile detention center beds

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) – As juvenile crime continues to rise in Mecklenburg County, stakeholders are blaming the justice system and emphasizing the need for more juvenile detention beds.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) reported in its July 2024 semi-annual report that juvenile crime rose to its highest level in at least five years and that 61% of all juvenile arrests in Charlotte were made by repeat offenders.

“When are other people going to get so upset about the things we see in this room every day?” said David Robinson, CMPD assistant chief, patrol services.

Police said their officers witnessed youths being arrested, released and then committing another crime within the same shift.

“It’s really more annoying,” said Daniel Redford, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police. “Mostly they are repeat offenders.”

CMPD made it clear that safety is their top priority.

“We're not about arresting kids, we're about changing outcomes,” Robinson said. “We have also heard from mothers in this community who have asked officials and judges to keep their child in custody because they fear for their child’s safety and know that their child will continue to put themselves and others in danger.”

Redford said that even after spending countless hours working cases, officers feel it has become commonplace for charges to be reduced.

“The men and women of law enforcement in Mecklenburg County are out here doing their jobs, they know the frustrations and they know the likelihood that these cases will either be dismissed or the charges will be reduced, and they will do it.” “We have to do some ridiculous get a plea deal and there will be no accountability,” Redford said.

Defense attorney Noell Tin said it's important to remember that every case is different.

“I question the assumption that prosecutors and judges will simply give away the courthouse. I think the growing pains are a factor in what’s going on in the court system,” Tin said. “It's not like we have an environment in which people turn a blind eye to serious violent crimes. That’s not my experience.”

To sentence a juvenile to a juvenile detention center, a judge must issue a “secure custody order.”

“Due to the difficulties in obtaining secure custody orders for juvenile suspects, our officers only request them in the most serious cases,” Robinson said in July 2024. “Already this year, the Department of Juvenile Justice has rejected at least 62 secure custody orders.” Requests for juvenile delinquents.”

In a statement to WBTV, Mecklenburg County Superior Court Judge Roy Wiggins said the judges who make these decisions “have taken an oath to faithfully and impartially discharge and carry out all the duties entrusted to them.”

As WBTV dug deeper, the data pointed beyond the courthouse.

During an annual meeting in March 2024, the North Carolina Sheriff's Association cited “providing adequate funding” as one of its key policy recommendations for the state's juvenile justice system and crime prevention, citing “inadequate capacity” in juvenile correctional facilities as a reason for the difficulty in getting judges to to issue secure custody orders.

There are 18 juvenile detention centers and youth development centers across North Carolina that housed more than 450 children as of Nov. 1. The figures showed that seven of these facilities were over capacity and five other facilities had at least 90% of their beds occupied by children.

According to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NCDPC), of all the youth currently housed in these facilities, 20% of the beds are occupied by children from Mecklenburg County.

The Department of Public Safety told WBTV that these numbers are “fairly typical” and that the “department has faced significant overcrowding and capacity issues for years.” The department also found that “the facilities were not designed and constructed to accommodate such long periods of confinement.”

“Officers and investigators wonder why they put in so much work, but they do it anyway because they don't do it for the outcome of the trial,” Redford said. “They do it to show justice, determination and respect for the grieving family.”

There was a 72-bed juvenile correctional facility in Mecklenburg County known as Jail North. It closed in November 2022 under Sheriff Gary McFadden.

WBTV asked Sheriff McFadden when the North Jail might reopen and was told there are no plans to do so. Asked repeatedly whether he saw the need for a juvenile detention center in Charlotte, McFadden said he “believes the reopening of a juvenile detention center in the county is necessary.” And said the issue is “under discussion” between county and city officials, law enforcement and community leaders.

McFadden's office noted that he is “open to the idea of ​​closing the Stonewall Jackson Youth Development Center in Concord and reallocating its resources and staff to reopen Jail North.” As of November 1, the Youth Development Center was at 64% capacity.

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