One of the Big Apple’s most notorious criminals this year has been arrested 20 times in less than two years, but is still able to walk the city streets freely – because he’s only 14 years old.
Another young criminal, just 12 years old, has already been arrested six times but also roams the streets at will after cycling through a state juvenile justice system shackled by lax laws and inadequate resources — and the authorities can’t do anything about it.
“We are arresting young people at the highest levels than ever before,” Michael Lipetri, chief of the NYPD’s Crime Control Strategies Division, told The Post. “We see that young people commit five, six, seven robberies. Most of them are dealt with under the statutes of the Family Court.
“If they are arrested with a firearm, we know that a quarter of the population will be involved in a shooting [some] That means a victim, which means a perpetrator, which means they were on the scene as a witness – a quarter of the population,” the chief said.
“Why? Because there are no consequences right now,” he added. “We have already killed fifteen young people with a firearm this year. I’m talking about being killed by a gunshot. In previous years it wasn’t even close. ”
The Empire State’s Raise the Age law and controversial bail reform statutes have produced a younger breed of criminals who avoid big-boy treatment and instead find themselves in an overwhelmed juvenile system that lacks the space, resources and lacks the authority to keep them locked up. up, say critics.
The city’s two juvenile detention centers are now dangerously overcrowded, and strict laws prohibit police from reviewing criminal records or providing young troublemakers with resources to help them.
Meanwhile, Lipetri said 12% of gun arrests this year involve suspects under the age of 18, up from 7% in 2018, when Raise the Age first went into effect. And while the NYPD made 275 juvenile gun arrests in 2016, he says there have already been 438 this year.
Cases reviewed by The Post expose the consequences: baby-faced defendants cycled in and out of overcrowded juvenile detention centers and a justice system without the power to do anything about it.
The 14-year-old troublemaker is a blatant example of the failed system.
Despite his young age, he has amassed a criminal record that includes nearly two dozen arrests, mostly for theft, grand theft and possession of stolen property, with some of his arrests now sealed, sources said.
His most recent arrest came on October 22, when he was charged following a purse-snatching incident in Brooklyn, less than a month after a separate arrest in a robbery elsewhere in the borough.
The 12-year-old suspect was last arrested on Nov. 9 in the Bronx and charged with gun possession — adding to a string of arrests including assault and reckless arrest.
Yet both youths remained free after having cases heard in family court instead of adult court, sources said. They were both released without bail into the custody of their parents, the sources added.
And they’re not alone: A 15-year-old has been charged four times, most recently after Queens school security officers found a black Cobra pistol in his backpack after he got into a fight, sources said.
Another underage felon, 17, has nine arrests to his name, including for three gun robberies in Brooklyn, according to sources.
In fact, baby-faced gangbangers are part of the migrant crime wave that has hit the city.
The infamous Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua, which has gained a foothold in the five boroughs over the past two years, has spawned a group of youths calling themselves “Diablos de la 42” – devils of 42nd Street – with members as young as 11 .
One teenage terror in the young crew was arrested nearly a dozen times this year on a string of robberies and assaults, but was allowed to remain free in a tax-funded migrant shelter until last month.
Only after his eleventh arrest in a knife robbery was he finally locked up in one of the youth centers.
Meanwhile, the city’s only two juvenile detention centers — Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx and Crossroads Juvenile Center in Brooklyn — are bursting at the seams after being forced to take more violent and older teens thanks to the Raise the Age law.
In a damning new report last month, the city’s Department of Investigation revealed that the centers’ population exploded from 52 in April 2018 to 237 in May 2023.
The number of murder suspects increased from seven to more than 230 in the same period.
“Raise the Age does nothing to curtail criminal behavior in children, does nothing to protect victims from crime,” a law enforcement source said. “It is clear that they are not impressed by the false deterrent provided by the law.”
In an email to The Post, a spokesperson for Gov. Kathy Hochul defended her law enforcement agenda.
“Governor Hochul’s top priority is protecting New Yorkers, which is why she has worked with the Legislature to generate record funding to address gun crimes, auto thefts and repeat offenders and further expand the types of cases in which judges have discretion . to set bail.
“Our administration will continue to work with law enforcement and local officials to improve the criminal justice system, combat violence, and strengthen public safety throughout New York,” the email said.
But one law enforcement source said something needs to change — starting in Albany.
“We need a thorough assessment from all stakeholders to see what we can do to save these children,” the sources said. “It’s not about incarceration. It’s about saving these kids and getting them on the right track.”
Additional reporting by Carl Campanile
