PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — The St. Petersburg Police Department and the City of St. Pete are launching a new program to help curb youth crime and to help teens who have already committed non-violent crimes.
St. Pete Police said that during the summer, they see a rise in teens committing crimes.
Kim King has a granddaughter who is a preteen and believes there's a rise in youth crimes over the summer because children are not in school and don't have something to occupy their time.
"That's kind of scary, and that's sad because I can think back to where we were teens and kids nowadays. They just don't get outside and have things to do and play or do stuff like that," said King.
Now, the St. Petersburg Police Department is launching a new program with the goal of keeping teens from repeating crimes.
"We can't arrest our way out of this problem because we can continue to make the arrests, but if the children out there keep committing these crimes, we are just having a vicious cycle," said St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway.
Program leaders said early intervention is key in keeping teens out of criminal activity.
Once a teen is charged with a nonviolent crime, the city's new community impact and safety liaison will contact the teen's family to assess the teen and recommend personalized care, resources, and therapy services.
"We are going to address four main issues we know these children are going through. Do they need social service, do they need food, do they need mental health and the main thing we hear a lot of these kids are arrested smoking marijuana," said Holloway.
Liaison Lisa Wheeler-Bowman believes the program will have a lasting impact on kids.
"I've been talking to youth for a long time, trying to get them to recognize that your choices have consequences, and that's what I'm bringing to them," said Wheeler-Bowman.
Officials said the teen will still face charges but will also receive help to keep them from getting involved in any other crimes.
"What can we do better? And this is one way we can do better to make our streets safer and to also help our youth going through troubling times," said Holloway.
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