OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Last week, five juveniles appeared in court on numerous charges for a homicide in northwest Omaha. They're all between the ages of 11 and 17, and Thursday afternoon, the Omaha Police Department announced a sixth suspect—a 16-year-old boy—was arrested. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said the juveniles have prior court history.
Organizations like Reconnect, started by Lavon Stennis-Williams, aim to help youth and adults who have a criminal history or are at risk of involvement. Stennis-Williams has seen both sides of the system as she was incarcerated herself.
"We cannot allow those situations distract us from continuing with our reform efforts," she said.
She said youth reform takes on a lot of different characteristics depending on the child and situation and emphasizes the need to focus on different areas.
"By placing emphasis on diversity, by getting more people from the community involved, by getting people at the grassroot level involved, reform has taken many different faces."
So far this year, OPD has arrested 253 juveniles for felony charges.
Statistics show there were 765 juvenile arrests in Douglas County during the first quarter of 2023. In the first quarter of 2024, that number decreased to 677. Stennis-Williams said she's pleased with that number, but events like last week distract from the progress of juvenile crime decreasing.
"Some kids will fall through the cracks. Some kids do not deserve the chance to come back into the community because of the crime they've committed. But, we cannot start there. That's where we have to end up at," said Stennis-Williams.
Douglas County Commissioner Roger Garcia said a new facility, like the Youth and Family Support Center in downtown Omaha, is not the ultimate solution to juvenile justice.
"It's a detention facility. It's not the level of intervention we need to really reach these youth and families earlier," said Garcia.
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