More than five years have passed since the tax increase reform began to be implemented in New York. age of criminal responsibility, after the legislation was enacted “Raise the Age”, which raised it from 16 to 18 years old. Under this regulation, 16- and 17-year-olds now accused of minor crimes are not sent to criminal courts but go to family court, where they can be tried as juvenile offenders.
It should be noted that according to the law, those minors who commit violent crimes They can still be prosecuted in criminal court, since “a young person of 16 or 17 years accused of having committed serious crimes is considered an “adolescent offender.” And in order for a prosecutor to present them in adult court, he must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant caused physical injuries important to a person who did not participate in the crime, displayed a firearm or deadly weapon, or had illegal sexual relations or sexual conduct.
But recent events in which minors have been arrested, such as the case of the 15-year-old boy who fired a gun, wounding a tourist, after a robbery in a Times Square store, and other detainees accused of violent crimes, have returned to add gunpowder to the discussion. However, arrests of minors continue to be a minimal part of detentions and continue to decline.
And according to data provided by the NYPDbetween last year and so far in 2024, more than 10,000 minors have been arrested in the Big Apple, which is equivalent to more than 21 arrests of teenagers every 24 hours. In In 2023, police arrested 8,450 minors under 18 years of ageand until the beginning of March, this 2024 a total of 1,587 arrests, of which the 62.1% (986) were related to the seven main categories of arrestsand the 4.2%represented in 67 caseswere related to weapons.
According to reports from the Uniformed Police, arrests in 2023 in all categories of crimes increased 19.5%, going from 189,781 arrests in 2022 to 226,872, but juvenile cases represented only 3.7% of total arrests overall, and 1.5% of arrests related to illegal possession of weapons.
2022 reports revealed that arrests for serious assault crimes among New Yorkers under 18 years of age represented only 4% of the total of 18,895 crimes committed at that time, half the percentage of 2014 (which was 8%) and much less than in 2006, when these crimes among minors represented 15%. The study also found that youth under the age of 18 accounted for 8% of all arrests for serious dangerous weapons crimes, up from 9% in 2014, before the so-called law was enacted. ley “Raise the Age”.
And although criminal acts carried out by minors have been used by Republican leaders to show in Albany that it is urgent to review the laws that raised the age of criminal responsibility, insisting that the rule has “endangered the public safety of New Yorkers,” those who defend changes, they insist that it is a fairer and more humane approach that, in the process, helps prevent the rise of crime.
But the accusations of conservative leaders such as the congresswoman from Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, Nicole Malliotakiswho has asked the state Legislature to “make fixes” to the regulations that, he says, “frustrate the NYPD when they make an arrest and the criminal does not pay for their actions,” has also echoed among some New Yorkers of Latino origin.
This is how Hispanics make it look like Maribel Londono, mother of a family, who has lived in the Big Apple for 8 years, and who shows her support for pencil is passed back to the law of criminal responsibility, but at the same time urges investment in more support programs for young people and low-income families.
“I agree that it was necessary to make changes to the justice system because there was a lot of injustice, but I feel that things with minors were very biased and that is why there are 16 and 17 year old boys who believe they can do whatever they want.” willingly, even attacking and killing, because eventually they know that nothing serious is going to happen to them. That has to be stopped“comments the Colombian.
“But I think that the changes that must be made also have to do with creating more sports, arts and vocational education programs and centers, like in our countries, because I do not believe that any child is born bad. What happens is that They lack opportunities and support, and those who go astray, it depends on the crime, we must help them straighten out or punish them, but so that they do not commit crimes again, not to keep them locked up.”
Eduardo Martínezwho works as a teacher at a school in the Big Apple, recognizes that crime caused by minors cannot be ignored, but he called on the authorities to “not misinform” to promote changes that he says would be “harmful.” especially for minors from Latino, immigrant and black communities.
“What happened with the minor who shot in Times Square is something serious and very serious, but that It does not mean that we have to change the laws again and punish all minors who commit crimes again and treat them like adult criminals.. Psychology itself reveals that a person does not finish developing brain until they are 24 or 25 years old and the figures do not show that young people in general are committing more crimes but less,” said the father of the family.
And in order to implement measures that help improve the chances that juvenile offenders do not commit crimes again, almost a hundred New York organizations and leaders They are urging Albany to approve, within the fiscal 2025 budget, a $250 million item, which currently excludes New York City from accessing that juvenile justice funding.
Leaders call for establishing a Juvenile Justice Innovation Fund with $50 million from the general appropriation for community organizations to provide a continuum of services from prevention and early intervention to alternatives to detention.
“These investments will help New York deliver on the promise of Raise the Age by supporting both youth and community safety.“, he warns in the letter, sent to Governor Hochul and the leaders of the state Legislature.
“Last fall marked five years since Raise the Age was first implemented across New York State, ending a shameful chapter in our history of prosecuting 16- and 17-year-olds as adults, regardless of crime. . “Thousands of 16- and 17-year-olds were held in dangerous conditions at Rikers Island and other adult prisons across the state,” they added.
Advocates for young offenders made it clear, as authorities’ figures show, that “Juvenile crime has decreased constantly” since the implementation of Raise the Age in 2018.
“Only in the city of York, since 2013 there has been a 48% decrease in the arrests of adolescents for serious crimes. And across New York State, there has been a decline 68% in teen arrests for serious crimes since 2013. “Evidence from statewide implementation clearly shows how the law has improved community safety and youth well-being,” the leaders stressed. “Despite this important progress, New York State has not fully delivered on its promise to fund community-based services and programs that provide alternatives to incarceration and recidivism.”
Michael Whyland, director of communications for the speaker of the state Assembly Carl Heastie, showed that the Democratic leader and the legislators of that party support the changes that were made to criminal justice, which among other things have allowed the new approach to the treatment of minor offenders .
“Assembly Speaker Heastie and the Democratic majority in the Assembly have led the way in enacting historic criminal justice reforms, including ‘Raise the Age,’” the House speaker said. “We are currently actively discussing the budget with our members and will present the Assembly budget proposal.”
Arrests of minors have decreased considerably in NY after penal reform. Edwin Martinez
From the side of organizations defending immigrantsthe call is to not take recently arrived minors as scapegoats and they ask that progress be made in the resocialization of juvenile delinquents instead of taking steps backwards, returning to those days when minors were sent to prisons like Rikers Island, as if they were adults.
“The misguided calls by some Republicans to criminalize children and young people are shameful and xenophobic. Prosecuting children as adults does not make communities safer. “This is not the time to go back,” he said. Murad Awawdeh, executive director of the NYIC (New York Immigration Coalition). “New York spent generations treating children like adults in criminal courts with no correlation to reduced crime rates. “Proposals to amend Raise the Age legislation scapegoat young people and distract from the real solutions our elected leaders must responsibly advance to achieve public safety.”
Data on arrests of minors in NY
- 10,000 arrests of minors have been recorded since 2023 in NY
- 21 arrests of minors under 18 years of age are made every 24 hours
- 8,450 minors under 18 were arrested last year in NYC
- Overall arrests increased by 19.5% in 2023, which were 226,872
- 3.7% of those arrests involved minors, less than previous years
- 1.5% of total gun arrests involved teenagers under 18.
- Arrests of teens for serious crimes have decreased by 48% since 2013 in the city
- There has been a 68% reduction in teen arrests for serious crimes statewide.
- 1,587 arrests of minors had been recorded this year until the beginning of March
- 62.1% of arrests were related to the seven main arrest categories
- 4.2%, represented in 67 cases, were related to weapons
- The age of criminal responsibility was raised from 16 to 18 in 2018
- 16 and 17 year olds now accused of minor crimes are not sent to criminal courts but to family court
2024-03-14 10:00:00
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