DAYTON — Dayton police are seeing a large increase this year in arrests of juveniles, reaching back up to pre-pandemic levels.
Area police are especially seeing an uptick of teenagers being accused of violent, gun-related crimes.
“Our children are in trouble,” Michelle Cooper said.
Cooper knows the heartbreak of violent crime that allegedly involves young teenagers.
Police arrested five teenagers for the shooting death of her only son Brandon Cooper, a Lyft driver, during a robbery attempt in January.
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Two of those teens now face murder charges and prosecutors have asked for them to be moved to adult court.
“When you make adult decisions you have to suffer adult consequences,” Cooper said.
A juvenile court judge ruled recently that there is probable cause to believe the two teens accused of murder committed the crime.
This is the first step to potentially move them to adult court.
Dayton police said 63 teenagers have already been arrested this year for gun-related crimes.
Arrests of juveniles in general has reached almost 1,000 this year.
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That compares to numbers around 400 during the pandemic and is on pace to match or exceed numbers from the pre-pandemic years of 2018 and 2019.
Dayton police are asking parents and gun owners to secure their weapons and lock them up.
They also ask that parents make sure they know where their children are and who they are with.
Derrick Foward, president of the Dayton unit chapter of the NAACP said there are youth programs available and suggests parents get their children involved in them.
“I don’t think there will ever be any type of closure, but I cant begin to try and move on, until we get some type of resolution,” Cooper said.
The next hearing involving the two teenagers accused of killing Cooper’s son is scheduled for November.