Hennepin County attorney pitches plan for preventing youth crime, but not everyone is behind her
MINNEAPOLIS — Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty laid out her plan for a new youth diversion program Wednesday.
She hopes it will put young people on the right track. The goal is to connect them to resources that serve as intervention before it gets out of control.
But not everyone is connecting with her approach to handling juvenile crime.
"It's important for us to collaborate and work together to figure out effective solutions," Moriarty said.
Moriarity said she knows the big problem in the county is youth auto theft. She admits these cases are hard to charge, typically because there is more than one kid involved, all wearing masks, sitting in a stolen car, making it hard to pinpoint who actually committed a crime.
Moriarty wants to get resources to the young people caught at a scene but not charged.
"Law enforcement submits referrals for young people, we review those submissions for eligibility," she said.
She said 88% of youth involved in auto theft who are referred for resources do not re-offend.
Moriarity did say out of the 7,856 auto theft cases, only 2.3% were cleared, meaning the Minneapolis Police Department only submitted a small percentage of young people involved in auto theft to the county attorney for charging.
"Clearance data is important, also, because we know that a big part of deterrence is the belief that you are going to get caught," she said. "If you don't believe you are going to get caught, it's less of a deterrence."
But Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara felt she was pointing fingers at his department, something he says is offensive.
"Any implication that the Minneapolis cops are not doing everything they can to try and solve that problem, not partnering with people to try and address it, is just not true and it's a slap in the face to the cops that are out there every single day putting their lives on the line to try and resolve this problem," O'Hara said.
He said his officers are working around the clock to get the most violent offenders off the street.
"Some of these cases have been putting guns into people's mouths, putting a gun against someone's head, pulling the trigger so that they hear it click," O'Hara said. "Really, really violent behavior, that's not stuff you can divert."
Moriarty hopes to work with Minneapolis city officials to continue her office's intervention program.
O'Hara said his officers will continue to work to get the most violent juvenile offenders off the street.
