CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The City of Charlotte is creating a plan to address rising youth violence.
On Monday night, Charlotte City Council’s Housing, Safety, and Community Committee met with staff members to begin discussions on the plan's priorities.
Charlotte city leaders said they want to act fast to reduce teen crime, worrying wasted time could result in another young life taken too soon.
Over the past two weeks, two tragedies served as tragic examples of rising youth violence in the Queen City: A 17-year-old was shot and killed in northwest Charlotte and a 15-year-old was shot in a triple shooting that turned deadly in southwest Charlotte.
CMPD recently reported shootings involving juvenile suspects increased by 33% in 2023.
"We must look at this with a sense of urgency," Councilwoman Dimple Ajmera said during the committee meeting.
The mayor has tasked city staff members with making actionable recommendations on how to reduce the violence. The draft plan could include policy changes, increasing funding for nonprofits, enhancing existing youth programs, and more.
Assistant City Manager Shawn Heath plans to use community input to craft the recommendations.
“All options are on the table," Heath said. "We need to have juvenile justice-involved individuals at the table providing some perspective in this work,"
The youth-targeting strategies will work in concert with Mecklenburg County’s violence prevention plan.
"The plan is to see a reduction in homicides and gun-related assaults by 10% each over the course of five years,” Tracie Campbell, who leads the county's Office of Violence Prevention, explained.
Heath hopes to bring the Housing, Safety, and Community Committee recommendations in April but couldn’t give a firm timeline.
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