MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Juvenile crime seems to be a crime wave hitting the Memphis community, but who could imagine a 10-year-old being among those caught up in crime?
When Memphis police held their special operation with Bartlett last week, they arrested 14 people. Seven of those were juveniles, including a 10-year-old.
Jimmy Chambers has worked with youth for more than 30 years. He is also a gang expert who says to not let the age make you underestimate a person.
“No, it really doesn’t surprise me” he said. “They just got caught. You got a lot of children out there that age are doing crimes and it just, they just hadn’t gotten caught yet.”
Police said more juveniles have been arrested for auto theft than adults.
“We do have a lot of suspects who are juveniles,” Lt. Jimmy Lewis said. “What we’re seeing with the juveniles is they need a mode of transportation to get to point A to point B, so more vehicles are being taken by force.”
Chambers also said until we address the issue of parenting, the crime among juveniles will continue.
“But we need to hold our parents accountable,” he said. “They need to stop what that child has picked up. We need to turn right around and go pick up the parent because I don’t care if the parent is at work. Your parents still should know where that child is because that’s your responsibility. What is it going to take to stop the children? We got to deal with the parents. The parents need to be disciplined just as well as the child.”