By Natasha Robin | Fox 8 | January 28, 2020
NEW ORLEANS, La. (WVUE) – New City Council data shows police investigated more than 6,000 car burglary incidents last year and officers made arrests in 9 percent of those cases. 48 percent of the time those arrested are juveniles.
“Some of those are repeat offenders, and I guess why that excites me is one it’s affordable and two, it’s manageable,” says Councilman Jason Williams.
Williams says more programs are needed to solve the problem. He points to an intense supervision program for juveniles.
“Someone that’s going to be meeting with them on a regular basis with a real intervention service inside their home, outside their home, so that their behaviors and activities are monitored,” says Williams.
Williams says the initial costs of the program will be 250 thousand dollars. Rafael Goyeneche of the Metropolitan Crime Commission says supervision, though, isn’t enough. He says electronic monitoring is the only way to truly keep track of an offender.
“We’re ignoring the benefits of proven technology that other communities are using to manage the pre-trial population being released on little to no bail by using electronic monitors,” says Goyeneche.
The City’s Commissioner of Criminal Justice Tenisha Stevens says the city is considering implementing electronic monitoring in some juvenile cases.
She says monitoring would be performed by the staff of the Juvenile Justice Intervention Center using technology provided by a private vendor to automatically notify staff when violations occur. She went on to say the city is exploring options to fund the program.