ATLANTA — Metro Atlanta is seeing a major increase in juvenile property crimes.
The main reason those teen crimes are up: gas station “slider” crimes. That’s when thieves cruise gas stations to steal purses from unsuspecting victims as they pump gas.
The trend has spread to areas like Cobb County after becoming all too familiar in Fulton County where the juvenile crime rate is 15-times higher than the national average.
Channel 2 Action News reporter Dave Huddleston sat down with a group of teens, some with a criminal past, to find out what is keeping them from becoming part of that statistic.
“It was easy money,” Tashumbi Jones told Huddleston. That’s the reason the teen said he would break into cars.
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There’s a chance if you’ve been a victim of a slider theft or a break-in at your home, Jones might have been the suspect.
The same with Jamarae Greer.
“Stealing people’s phones, breaking into people’s houses,” Greer told Huddleston.
The teens agreed to talk with Huddleston as they continue through the hard process to turn their life around.
Cobb County police Chief Michael Register says crime overall is down, except property crimes like breaking into cars.
Register says often they see the same juveniles over and over.
“It’s not only frustrating for the officers, it’s frustrating to the community and the court system too,” Register told Huddleston.
Register says many times adult criminals persuade teens to commit crimes because they know the court system will go easier on them.
“Come in at $400 a day, you can’t beat that,” Jones said.
Crime data from the Atlanta Police Department shows a 14-percent uptick in thefts from cars and auto theft.
“It’s sad when you see a young person throw their future away by making bad decisions today,” Register said.
One resource with high hopes of curbing teen crime is the At Promise Center in southwest Atlanta. It’s supported by the Atlanta Police Foundation and brings mental health, educational and mentoring services all under one roof.
The courts, the school system or the Police Department require many like Jones and Greer to enroll in various programs like anger management, alcohol, and drug counseling – to avoid jail time.
“It’s really showing the kids, ‘Hey you don’t have to rob and steal, you don’t have to carjack somebody, you know, there is a different way,” At Promise director Aaron Nicholson told Dave Huddleston.
At Promise also welcomes teens who are just looking for help with life’s struggles.
“They’re always motivating us to do better than what society thinks we should be,” teen Isaac Simpson said.
The goal is the same for Nicholson and Register: to change lives.
“The hope is we can connect with 100-percent of the young people that find themselves in this type of situation,” Nicholson said.
Evidence-based programs like At Promise have been getting a big boost statewide as the Department of Juvenile Justice looks to decrease costs associated with locking up teens. The annual cost of incarcerating a juvenile is about $90,000 a year.
Nicholson says in the eight months since opening, they’ve serviced 332 youth.