By Brian Lazenby and Lauren Gregory
Staff Writers
The number of attempted murder, aggravated assault and robbery cases rose dramatically in Hamilton County Juvenile Court last year, and local officials say the phenomenon is the result of less guidance at home and the increasing appeal of gangs.
Juvenile Court Administrator Chris Albright said theft and property crimes were the bulk of offenses committed by children in the past, but that no longer is true.
"Instead of just stealing something, now they are beating up someone to steal something," Mr. Albright said. "It's just a slow but steady decay in morals and less care for your neighbor."
Without parental involvement, said Juvenile Court Judge Suzanne Bailey, children and teenagers are turning to violent gangs.
"They're finding family through their association with these other groups," Judge Bailey said. "When they get with a group, they tend to lose any acceptance of personal responsibility."
According to a recently released report of juvenile crime statistics for 2006 in Hamilton County, cases of robbery and aggravated robbery increased 72 percent from 2005 to 2006, while aggravated assault cases rose 43 percent. Attempted murder cases jumped from zero in 2005 to 10 in 2006.
The report also shows that crimes such as simple assault, arson and carrying a weapon in public decreased last year. Possession of drug paraphernalia cases dropped 20 percent, from 60 to 48 cases, while other drug crimes increased. Cases of possession of crack cocaine increased 29 percent, from 17 in 2005 to 22 in 2006.
Chattanooga Police Chief Freeman Cooper has said family support plays a key role, and he believes disrespect of elders and parents' lack of attention are likely at the root of the city's growing youth violence problem.
Chief Cooper has called for parental involvement in solving the problem, hoping eventually to conduct an educational forum on gangs similar to the one Dalton authorities held for their community in February.
But the chief also is developing a plan of attack through law enforcement, said Assistant Chief Bobby Dodd. Department officials are developing a mobile Crime Suppression Unit to target "any kind of crime we have in any specific neighborhood," Chief Dodd said. "They'll adapt and relocate depending on trends in the city."
The unit may not be called a "gang unit," Chief Dodd said, but it will target youth in a new way.
"They'll try to work with them in a mentor capacity," he said, explaining that while department officials are convinced they cannot solve the city's gang problem through arrests alone, that will be a factor.
"If need be, they'll be locking folks up," he said.
The Crime Suppression Unit is a Chattanooga Police Department initiative, but officials hope to expand in the future to collaborate with the other agencies, Chief Dodd said.
The Hamilton County Sheriff's Department is looking at that option, as well as exploring how best to use gang intelligence gathered through jail records, said Chief Deputy Allen Branum.
"We've got a wealth of information in our corrections system," he said. "All we're trying to do is just work together and combine some resources."
Chief Branum also said he believes the county's school resource officer program is a good means of early intervention -- something officials agree is key.
Officers are seeing younger juvenile offenders who are "more callous and harder to reach," Mr. Albright said.
Greg Rivers, supervisor of Juvenile Court's intensive probation program, agreed, citing lack of structure in the home, access to the Internet, movies, television and video games as aggravating factors.
Children parrot the violence they see on the screen or learn how to create it online, he said. "Some people can cut that off, but kids are kids."
Mr. Rivers is frustrated by what he sees as a lack of commitment to make any changes.
"Everybody wants to gloss over the issue until some child gets shot, and then they'll say, 'What should we do?' " he said. "You know what we should do; you just don't want to hear it."
Hugh Reece, president of the Southeast Tennessee Council on Children and Youth, said he sees a lack of action at the community level.
"These are things we've talked about every year for some 10 to 12 years," Mr. Reece said. "We've had enough meetings. We need to stop having meetings and act."
Leaders of local youth advocacy organization Stop the Madness have said they are teaming up with city Parks and Recreation officials to plan activities for 12- to 18-year-olds who are out of school for the summer. They have yet to announce any formal programming.
Hamilton County Commissioner Greg Beck is championing a Summer Youth Leadership Development and Work Program. Mr. Beck is asking for financial support from the county, city and private sources for the $600,000-plus program, which he says ultimately could include as many as 1,000 teenagers and some children as young as 11.
But neither of the programs reaches children in their earliest formative years, a time Mr. Rivers sees as crucial in their development -- a time when parents need to intervene, he said.
"You can't wait until 8, 9 or 10," he said. "You can bend a little twig, but you can't bend a tree."
E-mail Brian Lazenby at blazenby@timesfreepress.com
E-mail Lauren Gregory at lgregory@timesfreepress.com
