Understanding Juvenile Carjacking: A Panel Discussion Moderated by Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The foster father talks about how his kids were riding around in free cars. Why didn't he stop that behavior right away? Why was he letting the kids in his charge get into these situations? What is his responsibility as a foster father??

Because the city is giving him money to foster kids he doesn't care about

And yet he won DC Foster Parent of the Year or some such recognition. Wild.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The parents/foster parents begging for accountability for their children was quite telling.

Yes, it's also reflected in this piece in Hill Rag recently: https://www.hillrag.com/2023/12/06/carjacking-is-no-big-deal/. Very worth a read, as it does a great job of clearly explaining how the system is breaking down (and how it's not really a "system" at all).

Several points from the story of the foster kid in the Hill Rag article:
- His foster dad has mixed feelings about the child's arrest but also thought to himself that some kind of consequences for this behavior was needed to change the behavior
- After the kid is released without charges on the carjacking, he started influencing other kids in the foster home, including ones as young as 13, about carjacking, which the kids refer to as "free cars"
- A year after the carjacking, the same kid was arrested for a domestic assault and wound up in a group home that his foster dad thinks might have been worse because it just placed him in a facility with other juvenile offenders where they just reinforce and encourage the idea that criminality is necessary or inevitable
- The kid now lives in another state and according to his foster dad, is on track to finish high school and considering enlisting in the military. This seems like a happier ending for that kid.

While you can't extrapolate policy critique from one story, I do think the comments from the foster dad, in particular, are valuable, because this is someone who works with a lot of kids who are "in the system" and is pretty clearly outlining the key issues at play: kids NEED accountability, we do have consider their age, detention/incarceration may not fix much and may actually increase recidivism, and there's an argument that getting kids out of the communities/families/friendships where these patterns emerge might be a path forward.

I don't know what the policy that works to remove kids from dysfunctional communities looks like, but it really looks like we're looking at dysfunction that goes beyond the family unit to the surrounding community. We need to address that dysfunction, but in the meantime, I do think we should be doing more to simply remove kids from the community (send to family out of state, out of the city, if possible) if we want to help these specific kids.

+1

Was a good article.
Bottom line: those advocating for no consequences and no accountability, no arrests, no persecutions and no sentencing, are only hurting the community. And the youth involved.

Removal from their environment into a completely different setting is something that works, it did for the youth in the article.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks Charles Allen:

https://wtop.com/business-finance/2024/01/dc-carjackings-are-driving-up-insurance-rates-report-indicates/


And it’ll be poor people who’ll be hurt the most by progressive policies. They’re paying more out of pocket now due to DC’s legalization of crime.

Not for insurance since they can just go uninsured and use paper license plates without consequence. I wouldn't assume this will get progressives to change their mind about crime.

Which causes insurance to keep going up more since actuaries will adjust premiums to account for more uninsured drivers on the road. The cycle gets worse.

[Anonymous]

this panel was insane. I think at one point the DC Attorney General says "we cannot prosecute and arrest our way out of it". BS! Prosecution and arrest of violent crime is the best way to prevent and deter violent crime. "Wraparound services" will not stop a kid from sticking a gun in a civilians face to get a "free car" if they know they won't be punished for it. These kids are not assaulting people and taking their cars because they are pleading for "wraparound services" (whatever that is).

Also if DC's chief prosecutor doesn't believe in proseccution why doesn't he quit and become a social worker?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The parents/foster parents begging for accountability for their children was quite telling.

Yes, it's also reflected in this piece in Hill Rag recently: https://www.hillrag.com/2023/12/06/carjacking-is-no-big-deal/. Very worth a read, as it does a great job of clearly explaining how the system is breaking down (and how it's not really a "system" at all).

Several points from the story of the foster kid in the Hill Rag article:
- His foster dad has mixed feelings about the child's arrest but also thought to himself that some kind of consequences for this behavior was needed to change the behavior
- After the kid is released without charges on the carjacking, he started influencing other kids in the foster home, including ones as young as 13, about carjacking, which the kids refer to as "free cars"
- A year after the carjacking, the same kid was arrested for a domestic assault and wound up in a group home that his foster dad thinks might have been worse because it just placed him in a facility with other juvenile offenders where they just reinforce and encourage the idea that criminality is necessary or inevitable
- The kid now lives in another state and according to his foster dad, is on track to finish high school and considering enlisting in the military. This seems like a happier ending for that kid.

While you can't extrapolate policy critique from one story, I do think the comments from the foster dad, in particular, are valuable, because this is someone who works with a lot of kids who are "in the system" and is pretty clearly outlining the key issues at play: kids NEED accountability, we do have consider their age, detention/incarceration may not fix much and may actually increase recidivism, and there's an argument that getting kids out of the communities/families/friendships where these patterns emerge might be a path forward.

I don't know what the policy that works to remove kids from dysfunctional communities looks like, but it really looks like we're looking at dysfunction that goes beyond the family unit to the surrounding community. We need to address that dysfunction, but in the meantime, I do think we should be doing more to simply remove kids from the community (send to family out of state, out of the city, if possible) if we want to help these specific kids.

+1

Was a good article.
Bottom line: those advocating for no consequences and no accountability, no arrests, no persecutions and no sentencing, are only hurting the community. And the youth involved.

Removal from their environment into a completely different setting is something that works, it did for the youth in the article.

Someday it will be common knowledge that the soft bigotry of low expectations only served to reinforce the lack of access to a better life for kids like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bottom line is that the foster father thought that there was an opportunity to invest his child in "services" after he had been arrested for carjacking and was surprised to find out that this was not the case. Only the Public Defender's announcement that " congratulations, your child has been released with no papers"

"what about services, meeting with violence interrupters, counselors, anger management etc?"

"No, you child does not get those because he did not break any laws."

"But he carjacked a car."

"But he was not tried for that. Have a great day."

Catastrophic city management.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this panel was insane. I think at one point the DC Attorney General says "we cannot prosecute and arrest our way out of it". BS! Prosecution and arrest of violent crime is the best way to prevent and deter violent crime. "Wraparound services" will not stop a kid from sticking a gun in a civilians face to get a "free car" if they know they won't be punished for it. These kids are not assaulting people and taking their cars because they are pleading for "wraparound services" (whatever that is).

Also if DC's chief prosecutor doesn't believe in proseccution why doesn't he quit and become a social worker?

Also, while they focused on children in this discussion, the majority of the carjacking is still being done by grown adults? What are we doing about that situation???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:this panel was insane. I think at one point the DC Attorney General says "we cannot prosecute and arrest our way out of it". BS! Prosecution and arrest of violent crime is the best way to prevent and deter violent crime. "Wraparound services" will not stop a kid from sticking a gun in a civilians face to get a "free car" if they know they won't be punished for it. These kids are not assaulting people and taking their cars because they are pleading for "wraparound services" (whatever that is).

Also if DC's chief prosecutor doesn't believe in proseccution why doesn't he quit and become a social worker?

This is insane! Of course you can arrest and prosecute your way out of this. That is literally his job!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't school truancy be automated instead of having CPS have to get a warrant to access those records? Five unexcused absenses and whatever work flow process DCPS uses, the central admin emails the teacher and sends a form letter to the parents. Same thing at ten absenses. Then at 15, that letter gets CC'd via email and mail to CPS. At that point CPS can call the parents/Guardian and just start the communication process. Does the kid need transportation? Are there underlying issues?

But automate the whole process. Seriously a first year office manager could script out an entire work flow and then have automated letters in place in a day. This is soooo easy.

Also - what struck me about the Forum (and admittedly I missed part of the audience questions at the end) there was not real VICTIM representation on the panel. DC residents all over the city are being terrorized by this violence. No other way to really spin it.

Charles Allen was the crime victim on the panel. He spent the first few minutes talking about being assaulted and still bearing that trauma 15 years later.

Great - we have a whining liberal masochist representing Ward 6!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, the tough reality is that there are absolutely, without question, human pieces of dog S. NO amount of intervening and govt spending will save those people despite what liberals think. They are far too gone. Those human pieces of S then have kids who turn into the same trash, and the cycle repeats over and over again. Unfortunately, we can't require licenses for having kids. We can't make parents parent. The only thing we can do is mass incarcerate to make society safe for law abiding citizens.

I'm sorry reality hurts the senses of liberals. We can only live in the world as it is, not as we want it to be.

You do understand that you are potentially taking the risk of locking up the next Einstein. Are you willing to take that risk? I'm not.

Not willing to take “The risk of locking up the next Einstein”? Lol. Wow! What an insult to Albert Einstein. And completely nonsensical. Don’t worry, none of these gun wielding carjackers is a genius in disguise.

Don't feed the troll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:this panel was insane. I think at one point the DC Attorney General says "we cannot prosecute and arrest our way out of it". BS! Prosecution and arrest of violent crime is the best way to prevent and deter violent crime. "Wraparound services" will not stop a kid from sticking a gun in a civilians face to get a "free car" if they know they won't be punished for it. These kids are not assaulting people and taking their cars because they are pleading for "wraparound services" (whatever that is).

Also if DC's chief prosecutor doesn't believe in proseccution why doesn't he quit and become a social worker?

Also, while they focused on children in this discussion, the majority of the carjacking is still being done by grown adults? What are we doing about that situation???

Doesn't DC consider anyone 26 or younger a juvenile at least for criminal law purposes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What is a wrap around service? I hear about them quite a bit.

Wrap around services are services provided by society for those in their time of need.

1. Proper & adequate food
2. Proper & adequate housing
3. Medical care (physical, mental, emotional,)
4. Resources to support all families, it's amazing to me how the US lacks behind in childcare costs and does not provide for paid maternity leave (the US in many respects is a 3rd world country)
5. Low Infant mortality rates for all
6. Lower tax rates for the citizenry rather than corporations

How do you know what is best for these people? They may not want your crappy government housing or food. You should just give these citizens cash so they can make their own decisions about their futures. Instead of spending money housing them in jails, just give them the money so that they will have time to work on improving themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The idea of white liberals who live in three million dollar homes setting up a panel to "understand" carjacking sounds like a Christopher Guest movie.

When you said "b**ch get out of the fkng car or I'll shoot you in the fkng face, what did you mean by that?" Do you think that came from a place of hurt?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The idea of white liberals who live in three million dollar homes setting up a panel to "understand" carjacking sounds like a Christopher Guest movie.

When you said "b**ch get out of the fkng car or I'll shoot you in the fkng face, what did you mean by that?" Do you think that came from a place of hurt?

He needs the car to feed his family!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The idea of white liberals who live in three million dollar homes setting up a panel to "understand" carjacking sounds like a Christopher Guest movie.

When you said "b**ch get out of the fkng car or I'll shoot you in the fkng face, what did you mean by that?" Do you think that came from a place of hurt?

I think you are really pleading to be embraced by a warm cocoon of wraparound services