16 teenagers who are charged at the weekend due to violent crimes in Baltimore

Sixteen teenagers were charged with a number of violent crimes at the weekend.

The teenagers are aged 13 to 17 and three of them are charged as adults, according to the police.

According to the Baltimore police, 11 of the teenagers have earlier arrests and two of them were arrested more than nine times. Seven were released.

The crimes committed include robbery, car theft and assault.

“It is incredibly frustrating to see that young people in our city are involved in violent crimes,” said Richard Worley, police commissioner of Baltimore. “Our officers work every day to keep our neighborhoods safely, but real, permanent changes requires that we all work together, schools, schools, community leaders and the judicial system. We cannot arrest our way out of this problem. We need an account, early interventions and real support for our youth to break this cycle and build a safer future for Baltimore.”

Collection of the mayor of the decline in crime

The mayor of Baltimore, Brandon Scott In an interview with WJZ on April 23, his government's aggressive efforts to attack the crime.

Scott said the city had recorded a reduction in the murders by 40% since 2020. During this time the shootings have dropped by 43%; Robbery has decreased by 23% since last year. Carjackings fell by 19%; And automatic thefts have dropped 40%.

“We said that we would reduce murders by 15 %, and we did it, we did it, it is a big step forward, but we have a lot more to do together, Mayor Scott told WJZ.

Mayor Scott says that the approach to reduce crime figures and the investment in young people works despite a lack of almost 500 police officers.

“Statistics will show that they do not return to something they have done before and that we create this cycle that we see again and again,” said Mayor Scott. “The way we operate now is the way we should operate forever and not put everything on the back of the BPD. There are other things for other agencies, and they have to be invested to do so.”

Investments in youth and security

During his speech by the state on April 21, Mayor Scott said that youth and public security are important investments in the city's proposed budget for the 2026 financial year.

According to the mayor, the expenditure plan includes 624.8 million dollars for youth initiatives, including $ 6.9 million in order to expand the program for youth summer jobs to $ 8,500 per hour and the financing of two new recreation centers.

Public security would receive 1.2 billion US dollars, with full funds for the urban expansion of the strategy to reduce violence for the group and the continued efforts to become a transitional police tasks to civil roles according to the proposed budget.