By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Staff Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Multiple teenage suspects were arrested Dec. 30 for allegedly participating in an armed carjacking in Southeast Baltimore.
Baltimore Police Department (BPD) officials say the crime took place near the intersection of Bank and Elreno Streets around 10:30 p.m. The victim in the incident says he was at the intersection when a black vehicle pulled up and two males got out, approaching him with a handgun while demanding his car.
(Photo courtesy of AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana/File)
The stolen car did have services provided by OnStar, and officers were able to track the vehicle to the 1200 block of Bridge Crossing Road in Baltimore County, Essex.
“District officers responded to the location with the assistance of Baltimore County. The suspects bailed out of the vehicle, and after a brief foot pursuit, officers apprehended three juveniles: a 15-year-old male, a 16-year-old male, and a 17-year-old male, and two adults, an 18-year-old male and a 19-year-old male,” according to a BPD statement. “Officers recovered a Glock 17 replica from one of the juvenile suspects. The suspect vehicle and the carjacked vehicle were both recovered. All suspects were transported to the Central Booking intake facility and Juvenile Booking and charged accordingly.”
This case is the latest in a city dogged by juvenile-related crimes, adding fuel to the fire of dissatisfaction surrounding the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services (DJS).
According to recent data from BPD, 505 youths were arrested and brought into booking in Baltimore City between January and October 2024. Juveniles, 11 to 17, have been arrested for a range of crimes including auto theft, robbery and assault.
During the 2024 Maryland General Assembly session, legislators voted to change a law that previously did not allow for children under 13 to be charged with a crime. Now, 10 through 12-year-olds, who have allegedly committed offenses like auto theft and animal cruelty, can be charged. The new law went into effect on Nov. 1, 2024.
(Photo courtesy of the Maryland Office of the Governor)
Baltimore City residents say Vincent Schiraldi, secretary of DJS, needs to do more when it comes to addressing and preventing juvenile crime. Residents in Baltimore County and across Baltimore City are citing displeasure with the amount of juvenile offenders sent back to their parents or guardians after being arrested for violent crimes.
Schiraldi sat down for an interview with the AFRO to respond to those concerns.
“We try to carefully assess kids coming into the system. We try to put the kids in the community who are at medium risk on the kinds of programs that we think will help prevent them from reoffending,” said Schiraldi. “The overwhelming majority of the time we get that right. But, we’re never really going to be a hundred percent right. I think that’s something that– not just I– but our society has to grapple with.”
Schiraldi, who was appointed by Gov. Wes Moore (D), has been leading DJS since Jan. 18, 2023, as acting secretary and was officially confirmed on March 2, 2023.
Donna Ann Ward, a community organizer, recently wrote a petition that a friend uploaded online. As of Jan. 5, more than 3,629 people have signed the call for action.
“I collected the thoughts of my neighbors and wrote a petition asking Moore to remove Schiraldi,” said Ward, in an op-ed sent to the AFRO. “Marylanders are waiting for Moore to wake up and see reality. How many more people will be killed, beaten, robbed and traumatized while we wait?”
Moore’s team has responded to the calls for Schiraldi to step down.
“Maryland has seen a 26 percent decline in juvenile homicide arrests and a 46 percent decline in non-fatal shootings of juveniles. The state has seen a 19.6 percent total increase in youth in custody,” said Carter Elliott, the governor’s senior press secretary. “These significant changes come after historic investments in public safety from the Moore-Miller Administration, including $119 million to local police departments across the state, $60.5 Million in funding to support victim services and $268 million for community and residential operations to provide direct care services to youth under the Department of Juvenile Services’ supervision.”
“The governor is fully committed to working with local elected officials, law enforcement, the judiciary and community leaders to improve public safety by holding youth accountable and rehabilitating them,” said Elliott.
Schiraldi responded to the persistent safety concerns from the community.
“I understand that people are concerned about juvenile crime. I understand they’re concerned about crime in general, and they have every right to be,” said Schiraldi. “I want people to feel like they’re safe in their neighborhood and that’s my job.”
Schiraldi shared how DJS decides which kids will remain in custody until a judge makes a decision on their case and which juveniles will go home to their parents.
“If the courts are open when a kid gets arrested the police take them to court. If courts are closed, and the judge can’t see them right away to decide what to do with them, we use this risk assessment instrument,” said Schiraldi. “The risk assessment instrument gives DJS options for how to handle the kid based on the correlation between rearrest and failure to appear in court.”
“This is a one-day decision. If we put a kid on an electronic monitor, the next court day the judge sees them,” he continued. “Then the judge makes an independent decision. Usually, if the kid is doing well, they leave them in the community. But, we are not required to detain violent kids.”
Members of the Randallstown NAACP have been very vocal about juvenile crime and the release of violent offenders. They have also expressed concern about youth offenders being sent back to the community on house arrest instead of being detained.
“This fight is not about Schiraldi or his policies. It’s about protecting the public and giving resources to these juveniles to ensure they stay away from a life of crime,” said Ryan Coleman, president of the Randallstown NAACP. “This is about implementing solutions to ensure that repeat violent juveniles are not given the chance to hurt Black people.”
Coleman said Schiraldi should make sure that community voices are being heard and taken into account.
“The community has spoken and they have real concerns about DJS,” said Coleman. “If the secretary truly wants to transform DJS, he must ensure that the voices of residents — all of them— are heard. Citizen input cannot be an afterthought or merely seen as a necessary evil; it must be considered a civic right.”
Though under much scrutiny, Schiraldi spoke determinedly about his future in this role.
“I’m going to come to work every single day and work my hardest to hold kids accountable, rehabilitate them and improve public safety as long as the governor will have me,” he said.
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