Since a shooting in November on Stadium Boulevard that left one person dead, several teenage suspects have been taken into custody for murder and other serious felony crimes in Jefferson City, elevating concerns among community members and law enforcement.
Jefferson City Police Chief Roger Schroeder said they have seen a growing number of young people carrying guns and associating themselves with various local gangs.
"That has been occurring for several years, and we've tackled that trend head on, particularly with our Community Action Team (C.A.T.) and a zero-tolerance approach," he said. "We have generated considerable information and have identified many of these individuals. We can't, however, constantly monitor each one's activities."
"I believe the significant portion of the firearms carried were obtained illegally," said Greg White, a pastor and former Cole County sheriff. "I also believe that additional laws regarding firearm procurement will not help curb gun violence."
Schroeder added while they have some gang activity, "we do not have evidence that those gang members are responsible for one or more of the recent murders. There's simply not enough evidence to indicate one way or another."
"We believe one or more murders have been committed by someone who was part of a group effort to perpetrate another crime during which a death occurred," Schroeder noted. "Let me be clear, however: The Dawson Street case has revealed no evidence that the victim or his friends were involved in any criminal activity before or during the shooting."
The case Schroeder is referring to is the Dec. 11 shooting death of former Lincoln University Student Government President D'Angelo Bratton-Bland. As of now, no suspects have been identified in his murder.
"More and more, we are hitting a dead end very quickly, because of a lack of willingness by witnesses to speak to the police or provide any helpful information," he said. "This is the prevailing attitude of both adults and juveniles. It is extremely frustrating to our detectives who are totally invested in solving each criminal investigation."
White said: "Trust with citizens cannot solely be built with agencies.
"Individual law enforcement officers build trust and respect with members of the community by building personal relationships with the people in the areas they live and work. This relationship building must be across social, racial and economic strata. It must be real. It must be moral. If you trust me, you talk to me. This is not about informants. On the contrary, this is about people who trust each other working together."
Schroeder also said the way the department's officers and detectives handle criminal investigations stays relatively the same no matter the age of the suspect.
"We of course must respect the age of those we interview or interrogate, and we do this by directly involving the juvenile authorities," he said. "If detained, the juveniles are released to those same juvenile officials. The elements of a crime remain the same. The methods of establishing those elements of a crime remain the same. The legal burden of establishing probable cause under the law also remains the same."
As far as trying to find ways to address the issues with youth and criminal activity, Schroeder said the answer is "extremely complicated."
"It's easy to blame the police because we're visible and directly involved in the community response to violent crime. But the answer is deeply rooted in a plethora of social issues," he said. "It begins in the home with two parents or one fully engaged parent and a wide range of support groups. Churches are important, as are schools and the many organizations which exist for the narrowly focused purpose of mentoring our youth in a variety of ways. Jobs and the ability to earn money are also important to young people."
Schroeder also said they've known for a long time that gang affiliation is a substitute for family.
"Lacking the support of an active and concerned family or mentor of any nature, the young person reaches out to the 'gang,' as a means of belonging to something bigger than the individual," he said. "The 'gang' serves as the 'family unit' and functions as a 'big brother,' 'mentor' and 'protector.' It's a poor substitute for the real thing and is difficult to understand to those who enjoy a real family. When one is faced with a giant void in one's life, however, it's very easy to fall prey to the superficial but attractive pull of the 'gang."
White agreed. "Gangs take the place of family and specifically the two-parent family as well as positive male role models," he said. "It would seem the long-term solution is both strong families and positive male role models."
Schroeder added that as a community, we must never give up "in our fight to save our youth from the life destroying results of crime and violence."
"We all must commit to this critical fight in whatever constructive manner we can," he said. "It will probably be very difficult, and it will take time. But, we must never give up on our youth and the challenges they face every day. It's a community-wide problem with community-wide answers."
Cole County Prosecutor Locke Thompson said the prosecutor's office can help in education efforts to show young people what they could face if they make wrong choices.
"Whether it's going into schools and giving presentations, somehow we have to have a way of being involved," he said. "You hope you never have to serve a juvenile, but it happens."
Thompson said he is shocked at the ages of those arrested in these recent crimes and thinks it goes back to the gang issues and how we can try and break that cycle.
"When you're talking about a murder, the young person involved in that, for them it may be too late to help them, but that doesn't mean we can't educate future generations and let them know that they were in your shoes at one point and if you don't make some changes you could be following them."
Larry Henry, Cole County Treatment Court administrator, said in many cases it has become a family affair when youth are getting into adult courts.
"When I was a juvenile officer, I worked with their parents and unfortunately, the kids see criminal behavior as the norm," he said. "By the time it gets to our level, I'm not sure what, preventive wise, the courts can do. The reality is the kids have made it up in their minds that they are going to do these things. So you can do all the teaching and preventative measures, but when the kids go home, they go right back into these negative environments."
Henry said when a youth comes to the adult courts, it's at a level where the judges have to make decisions on sending young people to prison, which in many cases, punitive measures are the only choice available.
"Once they get there, these kids are pretty much done for and that's a harsh reality," he said. "This is a generational issue that is passed down from adults to kids."