WASHINGTON — Three teenagers are facing charges after police say they spent hours robbing people in Northwest D.C. early Sunday morning.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, two 15-year-old boys have been arrested and charged with multiple counts of armed robbery and assault with a dangerous weapon.
What can be done about this, and how do we keep young people from turning to crime in the first place? That was the central question at a community meeting Monday in D.C.'s Ward 1.
The meeting took place at Cardozo High School and was hosted by Councilmember Brianne Nadeau. Its focus was on what organizers called the "public health approach" to fighting violence. That means focusing on prevention and intervention rather than punishment when the crime is already done.
Rev. Judie Shepherd-Gore from the Cure the Streets violence interruption program was one of the people invited to speak. She said youth crime is often a symptom of a bigger problem.
"Some of the things these young people are facing are choices no person should have to face, like what am I going to eat today," she said.
Rev. Shepherd-Gore argued that with better service and violence interruption programs to redirect young people, lawmakers can give teens a better way.
“We certainly believe that If we treat it like a disease, there can be a cure. I’m in this line of work because I certainly believe it can be cured," Shepherd-Gore said.
Monday's meeting comes amid rising crime rates in the city. Overall crime is up 25% from this time last year, and violent crime is up 7%, according to DC Police crime stats.
Councilmember Nadeau said high-profile cases of teens committing violent crimes illustrate the need for action.
“It’s really upsetting, especially for anyone who has kids like me, to think that we have children out there who are doing this. What it tells me is that the adults aren’t doing enough," Nadeau said.
But most of the crime we're seeing is being committed by adults. Lauren Haggerty from the Office of the Attorney General told us juveniles make up just 7% of total arrests. She agreed that prosecution can't be the only tool.
“Prosecution happens after a crime happens. So when we think about improving public safety in the long term, we have to get to the root causes,” Haggerty said.