Summary

Amid growing concerns about violent juvenile crime in Baltimore, Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson joined C4 and Bryan Nehman on WBAL to address the persistent frustrations voiced by city leaders, law enforcement, and residents.

Amid growing concerns about violent juvenile crime in Baltimore, Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson joined C4 and Bryan Nehman on WBAL to address the persistent frustrations voiced by city leaders, law enforcement, and residents.

The discussion followed a particularly disturbing case in which two teenagers with prior robbery charges were reportedly released to guardians after violently assaulting an older woman and stealing a car.

“There are too many young people who are not well,” he said. “I think this is a situation where the facts really matter. I’m not exactly aware of what the charging documents said when they went in. If it is somebody that has prior issues and there was a violent assault, they should not have been released.”

Ferguson also acknowledged a trend in arrests involving juveniles.

“It is true that there may be less arrests for young people, but when they are arrested, it is a higher level of violence,” Ferguson said. “The bigger question is why is it that we are seeing a more violent young people… the kids got to be held accountable.”

C4 pressed further, noting that this was not an isolated case and citing concerns raised by Mayor Brandon Scott and State’s Attorney Ivan Bates.

Ferguson noted other problems regarding accountability and juvenile arrests, pointing to the lack of proper placements for troubled youth.

“We had young people who were in crisis that were stuck in hospitals because they didn’t have anybody to be sent home to,” he said. “So, they were sitting in hospital rooms for months and months and months on end, not getting treated—just there because there was no placement for them to go somewhere… There are a number of young people in the city and across the state where sometimes the home environment is not the place that they should be headed back to.”

He also said that it’s a challenge to find placement for 16- or 17-year-olds who are repeatedly violent.