Police tie jump in crime to juveniles

Although guns are mentioned quite a bit, I'm surprised to find that they're not directly blamed for everything in this article in the USA Today. What is to blame? Gangs. It's as simple as that.

Minneapolis police estimate that this year, juveniles will account for 63% of all suspects in violent and property offenses there, up from 45% in 2002.

In Boston, juvenile arrests for robbery rose 54% in 2005; weapons arrests involving youths rose 103%. "Kids are jumping into this violence," police Superintendent Paul Joyce says. "We're very concerned."

So what's the root of the problem of kids in gangs? Home life? Culture? Lack of meaningful and consistent sentencing? Nope.

Localities often complain they don't have enough money; now the chorus is getting louder. Tight budgets and an emphasis on terrorism have shifted federal and state money from police and programs for youths. "It should be no surprise that the streets are more violent," Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak says. Since 2003, he says, Minneapolis has lost at least $35 million a year in state funding for city programs.

Right. If only we could extort more money from the citizens to fund the public programs, all these problems would just go away.