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Romano: Juvenile car thieves need to feel the love, and the fear

 
Published April 5, 2016

By the time the car drove off the cemetery road and into a murky pond in near-complete darkness, any hope of rescue was lost for the three teenage girls inside.

And that tragedy will only worsen if we can't figure out a way to save the next set of teenagers long before they get behind the wheel of another stolen car.

For the rescue must begin before the crime goes too far. It must begin at the earliest signs of trouble. Based on conversations with law enforcement officials, it must begin with a re-examination of how we are dealing with juvenile felony arrests.

"The juvenile justice system is not designed to punish, it's designed to rehabilitate," said Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe. "The problem is the advocates don't want any type of punishment at all, and that's turned the system into a paper tiger."

To be clear, McCabe is not suggesting every juvenile offender be thrown into jail. But he is questioning current policies that allow juveniles to be arrested multiple times for stealing cars and still be sent home before the ink dries on an arrest report.

It is part of the complicated dance that tries to keep juveniles in line without saddling them with jail terms and felony convictions that could affect the rest of their lives.

"I don't know what the answer is, but I know what's going on now isn't working," he said. "From the reports I'm getting, these kids are showing up in court acting real cocky, like they know nothing is going to happen to them."

It's an issue St. Petersburg police have been talking about for some time. In a city that dwarfs the rest of the state in auto thefts, there is growing concern that the problem is exacerbated by a lack of deterrence in the juvenile system.

For the last full year of statistics, St. Pete had 298 juvenile arrests for auto thefts. And 26 kids were responsible for nearly one-third of those arrests. If you want to break it down even more, 11 juveniles were arrested four or more times in one year.

After an arrest, juveniles are typically taken to an assessment center where a score sheet is used to determine how many points they've accumulated in terms of serious crimes. They're often released and arrested multiple times before making it to their first court appearance.

"The first time they make a mistake, they're sent home to their parents and hopefully it's taken care of there," said St. Petersburg police Chief Tony Holloway. "The problem is they're being sent home after a second, and third and fourth arrest. And the kids start thinking that it's okay to steal a car because nothing bad ever happens to them.

"The system needs to be fixed."

Holloway is proposing that state officials allow St. Petersburg to include felony car thefts in its Second Chance diversion program that began a little more than a year ago.

The program puts juveniles accused of misdemeanors to work cleaning city parks and gets them counseling with a social worker within days of their offense. Police say of the first 108 juveniles who entered the program, 98 completed it successfully.

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Holloway says the immediacy of the program is critical. Instead of waiting months for a court date — which can happen in auto theft cases — the problem is quickly addressed.

"If it's working with misdemeanors, why wouldn't we try (to expand)?" Holloway asked. "We need to get ahead of this and fix it before it gets worse."