CHARLOTTE, N.C. — President Joe Biden held a meeting with CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings and other police chiefs on Wednesday to spotlight his administration's efforts to help cities and police departments manage crime.
In a conversation Wednesday night with WCNC Charlotte's Vanessa Ruffes, Chief Jennings spoke about what he called a "very positive" conversation with the President.
"I really feel like [Biden] has a genuine interest in what we need to be successful," Jennings said. "There was some indication he may want to have us back up and he said that there's the we talked about some of the assistance that we've been getting from the federal government, by way of grants and in funding. He also mentioned that there's more to come."
That funding, including $350 billion of flexible aid, is part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed by Congress in 2021. Biden said billions of that money has been used effectively at fighting crime, including reducing gun violence.
In 2023, juvenile crime was a major area of concern for Charlotte and CMPD's data bears that out. CMPD reported a 34% increase in the number of juveniles who were arrested (3,016). Additionally, 108 underage people were named as suspects in shootings, which was a 33% increase from 2022.
CMPD Chief Jennings partially attributes the rise in juvenile crime to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We started seeing this occurring after COVID," Jennings said. "Schools were out during COVID and a lot of kids didn't really have a whole lot to do. Ever since then this crime trend with juveniles just seems to keep getting worse and worse."
CMPD says many underage suspects are racking up multiple charges because they aren't being held on secure custody orders. Instead, many of those suspects are being released back to family. In January 2024, CMPD highlighted three suspects who accumulated 122 total charges, including a 15-year-old who faces 48 charges, including two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.
"It is so frustrating," Jennings said. "We have a lot of great men and women out there doing a lot of investigative work and solving crimes and trying to bring closure to victims regularly. When you have that, the only result that they see coming out of it is to release that young man or that young woman back into that same environment, simply so they could go back and re-offend. That is what I talk about the frustration with law enforcement is that our officers cannot continue to play that catch and release and simply deal with the same issues over and over again."
Jennings said he believes Mecklenburg County needs a juvenile detention center. The center closed in December of 2022 after inspections found staffing at the Detention Center Central inadequate to operate that facility. Since the closure, law enforcement in Mecklenburg County has had to take juveniles to neighboring counties for detention.
As law enforcement around the nation looks to tackle juvenile violence, Chief Jennings said mental health is a big topic of discussion.
"I've always said that we have to be able to identify programs that we can get young people, identify those that are at risk, and get them the programs that they need to be able to deal with everyday life situations," Jennings said. "A lot of times this often falls way too much on police to be able to deal with the young people. We're on the front lines of this, and we're seeing them when they commit the commission of a crime. By the time they come into our hands, I feel like it's almost too late. We have a lot of great diversion programs within CMPD. But I think it needs a whole lot more than what we're doing within law enforcement to try and keep these kids out of the system."
CMPD’s Community Engagement Division offers more than a dozen programs aimed at providing healthy outlets and mentorship for teens and young adults. Data from CMPD's 2023 End of Year Public Safety Report shows the department's Youth Diversion program for ages 8-17 had 444 participants in 2023. The report shows that 95% did not re-offend.
"That is a huge success when we are looking at what we're trying to turn the lives around of these young people," Jennings said.
The Biden Administration is also offering $85 million in federal grants meant to improve job opportunities for youth in communities affected by gun violence and crime. The grants will be open to nonprofits, governments and civic leaders to fund education, skills training and paid work experience. The money is being made available through the Labor Department’s employment and training administration.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.