Hennepin County Attorney says office is addressing issue of juveniles stealing cars
MINNEAPOLIS -- With federal indictments of gang members still fresh in the minds of many, others are concerned about kids who continue to steal cars.
Federal law enforcement does not deal with juveniles -- that's left up to county attorneys.
We wanted to know what's being done to keep the streets safe. WCCO's Reg Chapman sat down with the Hennepin County Attorney.
She explained why she believes her office is helping stop the bad behavior before it is too late.
It happens every day in Minneapolis: Kids taking cars, mainly KIAs and Hyundais, and using them to joyride and sometimes commit other crimes.
"There are a lot of car thefts and we got kids driving and being in cars engaging in dangerous driving behavior that has ended in terrible consequences for either them or the public," said Mary Moriarty.
Now some of these same officials that helped indict 45 Twin Cities gang members are working together to address kids stealing cars.
"The biggest danger is the danger to themselves there is no winning in street life," said Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara.
"I think what people ultimately want is violence to stop and they want to stop seeing the same kids they know their law enforcement agencies are frustrated with what's happening so what we are trying to do together is to really use evidence-based practices and strategies we know work to stop this from happening and that doesn't necessarily mean that we have to lock kids up," Moriarty said.
RELATED: Minneapolis police say arrests of alleged gang members took years of street work
Moriarty says police are seeing some of the same kids time and time again riding or driving these stolen cars.
"We understand we all need to work together we understand we can do effective intervention, "Moriarty said.
Intervention that includes the use of group homes in the community.
She says it keeps kids out of lock up and getting them the help they need in a familiar environment.
"We have Red Wing which is out-of-home placement in Red Wing, Minnesota. We have adult prison and we have very few other options, and we have a lot of youth who unfortunately cannot go home," Moriarty said.
Moriarty has testified in front of the legislature asking for more culturally appropriate group homes.
She also believes systems designed to help these young people need better coordination.
"Event through the county attorney's office has our child protection division and our youth prosecution division the information we have in child protection cannot be shared with our juvenile prosecution team nor is that shared with the Minneapolis Police Department," Moriarty said.
She has an attorney from her office embedded with Minneapolis Police.
Moriarty says she is also working with the US Attorney.
Taking Andy Lugar's model of Group Violence Intervention and catering it towards Youth Violence Intervention.
"I'm a big advocate of getting those type of resources so that they don't escalate behavior that results in the kind of behavior that ends in an indictment in federal court, "Moriarty said.
Moriarty says she is optimistic a group approach to intervention can reach young people.
She says a lot is happening behind the scenes and she promises to share more going forward.