Concerns voiced, but no single solution to increasing youth violence in Denver materializes

A day after two different shootings involving juveniles near school campuses, the growing issue of youth violence is front and center once again, and in Denver, faith and community leaders put out a call-to-action Tuesday morning.

On Monday, a 16-year-old student, who appeared to be driving away from the campus, was shot and critically injured at just before 3 p.m.

About 20 minutes later, a second believed-to-be unrelated shooting occurred just outside Denver's Emily Griffith Campus. One adult and another juvenile were hit by gunfire, Denver Police said.

RELATED Two Denver shootings, both involving juveniles, bring attention to rise in youth crime

On Tuesday morning, faith and community leaders from across the city gathered to talk solutions following the citywide call-to-action. The group included the mayor, school officials, parents, community groups, and more.

"We've got to go to work," said Mayor Michael Hancock. "As adults, we have got to step up. And again, within our spheres, (ask ourselves) what role can we play to try to abate what is happening."

While ideas of how to address the complex issue differed, most involved adding urgency and collaboration.

For some, like state Senator James Coleman, solutions must include creating opportunities for teens. In the meeting he recalled how an internship helped him stay out of trouble during Denver's infamous "summer of violence" in 1993.

"It was a summer internship program that kept me from doing what everyone else was doing, so we've been working on finding programs at the state level to be able to replicate that and find opportunities for our kids," Coleman said. "It's the deterrents. If you have something to live for, then there's other things to look forward to."

Another topic of discussion was about student resource officers, which were taken out of Denver schools starting in 2021. Denver School Board Vice President Auon'tai Anderson said while the district has moved away from that practice, its leaders must work to build up a better relationship with police for improved responses and collaboration moving forward.

RELATED  Denver mom is working to have signs of domestic violence taught in schools 

Others said the district needs more resources and programming, and one man suggested more parents need to be involved.

"The only way we can do it is by bringing more and more people into the actual schools and having more programs, more enrichment programs, to try to help various students to show them not only do you have the potential, but you have a purpose for greatness," one parent said. "If we fail them now, we're going to end up failing them because that's our new mayor in the middle school, our new doctors, our new politicians."

Superintendent Alex Marrero called youth gun violence "a ticking time bomb" in a meeting late last year while sharing with board members how there had been 34 gun-related incidents on or near school campuses at that point in the semester.

According to the most recent study From Colorado's Department of Youth Services, juvenile delinquency filings have increased by a little over 15%, and the number of those brought in for committing violent offenses went from 31% to 43%. Both increases followed years of decline.

RELATED  Aurora develops new youth violence prevention programs: 'We're in a critical stage'

While opinions on how to address it all differ, the consensus Tuesday was this is a community problem in need of collaborative solutions.

"We need to be intentional about our actions that we're going to take to make sure that the systems that are in place are better serving our children, so things like this don't become the norm," said Vernon Jones Jr., a partner with FaithBridge.