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Cleveland Police Chief Frustrated Over Juvenile Recidivism
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Cleveland Police Chief Frustrated Over Juvenile Recidivism

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Cleveland police have cracked down on teenagers accused of breaking into cars and wreaking havoc in the community.

19 Investigates spoke exclusively with Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd Thursday about the department’s efforts to combat juvenile crime and the biggest obstacles to keeping you safe.

Unfortunately, in many of these cases, this is not the first time these children have committed crimes.

One of the teenagers arrested by police this week had been arrested more than 25 times for violent offenses but was still on the street.

“If you know you can break into these cars and nothing will happen to you, why wouldn’t you?” Chief Todd asked.

Earlier this week, 19 News reported that police arrested a 14-year-old boy who they say has been terrorizing the community for weeks. Chief Dorothy Todd and her officers have had enough.

RELATED STORY: 14-year-old boy given ‘many second chances’ suspected in dozens of murders, Cleveland officials say

“Sometimes it’s a revolving door when it comes to kids,” the chief said. “Our officers always say, you know, they’re the only ones who don’t understand how there’s no accountability.”

Police were looking for the teenager after they said he committed a robbery on Halloween.

Detectives found him in a stolen car and tried to pull him over, but he wouldn’t stop. Police later found the teenager in a nearby house. They also found two weapons on him.

“I think that’s a big part of it, that’s just how kids get their hands on guns, find these guns, use them in robberies,” the chief explained. “I think one of the juveniles maybe fired shots at one of the officers at some point, so these are very young children committing very serious crimes.”

19 inquests found the 14-year-old started offending at just 12.

This year alone he has been arrested six times. His crimes ranged from animal cruelty to aggravated robbery and felonious assault.

They also believe he is behind more than 50 recent car break-ins.

“I know from our frontline officers who are doing the work that they’re frustrated because they’re seeing these kids that they’ve arrested and a few days later they’re interacting with them again, so I know they’re frustrated,” Todd admitted. “I try to continue to encourage them to do their part, we can’t control what happens after our investigation is over, we can only continue to enforce the law.”

Chief Todd says her department is already stretched thin and these cases are taking up a lot of resources and eating up a lot of overtime pay.

“The community deserves to be held accountable,” she said. “The community deserves to feel safe. Officers have put a lot of work into it and we try to help solve the problems, but there has to be a consequence to stop the behaviour.”

19 Investigates has covered several cases of teenagers who were released by juvenile court judges and ended up reoffending and sometimes escalating.

“It’s scary to know, and I hope this is taken into consideration when the trial goes through, you have to look at it,” Todd said. “We’re not experts when it comes to how to rehabilitate him, but from a community standpoint and from a law enforcement standpoint, it’s scary to see the crimes he’s committed so far. We don’t know what he’s capable of.”

19 The investigation has already requested multiple interviews with juvenile court judges about how these teenagers get away with a slap on the wrist for committing violent crimes.

All our requests were denied and we reached out again on Thursday. We are still waiting to hear back.

Meanwhile, Chief Todd says they will continue to do their part in arresting these kids.