BALTIMORE — “This year, juvenile crime has been one of the most talked about topics across the city," says Monique Brown, Deputy Commissioner for the Baltimore City Police Department.
Not only is it the most talked about topic, it is one of the most challenging Baltimore City is facing.
Carol Ann Malinowski and her husband moved to Baltimore City in December of last year.
She says the first few months of living they felt safe, until one day her husband was assaulted.
"He was just walking along and somebody came up behind him, hit him in the head, knocked him down, he hit his head and stole they his phone," says Carol Ann.
She says it's one of the reasons why she came to the meeting, hoping she’d get answers to what leaders are doing to reduce the youth crime.
According to the State’s Attorney’s office for Baltimore City, this year alone there are over 625 juvenile cases.
The cases vary from car thefts, to handgun related crimes, robbery and assault.
Delegate Luke Clippinger says one of the problems is the States Attorney’s office, BPD and the Department of Juvenile Services are not working together effectively.
“They simply do not talk to each other, or when they do talk to each other, they try to talk to each other as little as possible and move on. That has become one of the biggest challenges I've seen," Clippinger said.
Many people expressed they are unhappy about how the DJS is currently operating.
“There is a disconnect between DJS and what the community of Baltimore City is asking for," says Jason Rodriguez.
As people asked more questions, the disconnect in the departments became clear.
“We know this process isn’t working the way it should be and we are generally working towards the same goals keeping kids and our communities safe. That's true for everybody up here but the transparency isn’t there, and there needs to be change,” says Cate Rosenblatt.
Carol Ann says she just wants to see real change so she and her husband can feel safe in their neighborhood again.
"You know, why do kids feel like they need to do these things? Let’s get to the root of what the problem is and see how we can solve it together," she says
