Washington D.C. has a crime problem. It lies in our youth.

Our nation’s capital has a problem, and it’s about time we addressed it. Washington D.C. has seen historic levels of violent crime in 2023, and the city is set to break records for homicides, motor vehicle theft, and property crime. As of June 2023, halfway through the calendar year, the Metropolitan Police Department has reported 129 homicides and 14,759 property thefts, a 35% and 29% jump from the entirety of 2022, respectively; and the suspects may not be who you think. As handguns and other dangerous weapons increase in prevalence throughout cities, the rate at which juveniles and teenagers are involved in violent crimes has seen a dramatic uptick. In 2022, 97 juveniles were arrested for first time violent crimes. 90 juveniles were shot. Young people are dying on the streets and killing each other every day, and something needs to be done. 

Two DC teens commit armed carjackings and robberies in June, 2023.

 

Wait, so why are teenagers commiting crimes?

In short, teenagers face less consequences under the justice system and are all too often neglected by caretakers and guardians, leaving them to fall into a cycle of reliance on robberies and violence. After a 10 hour spurt of 13 armed robberies committed by two D.C. teenagers, experts discussed the extent to which teenagers should be tried as adults for violent crimes. 

 

While sympathizers say that the teens who performed the 13 armed robberies, aged 15 and 16, committed the crimes due to bad decision making or poor parental role models, others argue that the teens must face serious consequences for their knowing actions. Just this month, in July, 2023, a Lyft driver was shot dead in Northeast D.C. Video footage shows 4 teens running away from the scene, likely aged between 14 and 17. 

Four teens are seen running away from the scene of the crime after murdering a Lyft driver.

What is going on here? Why are teens wreaking havoc in Washington D.C.? Experts and community leaders stress that the issue starts at home. Parents in violent neighborhoods lose track of their children by puberty, as kids transition away from school and sports to gangs and violence. Entire neighborhoods and friend groups are swept into the cycle, catalyzed by the accessibility of handguns and deadly weapons in cities. 

 

Speaking of guns, why are they so easy to get?

While guns can always fall into the hands of children through parents or older friends, there has been a distributing uptick in what is known as “ghost guns.” Ghost guns are untraceable guns with no known serial number, bought online or through a black market. These guns are assembled at home, packing just as much of a punch as store bought weapons. Following the death of two teens in Fairfax County from bullets shot by a ghost gun, officials investigated the sale of the gun, finding it was bought illegally by an 18 year old at the time. It is truly indescribable how accessible deadly weapons are to teens across D.C., and throughout the nation. Anyone, regardless of permits, age, or background checks can buy guns online from seedy websites if they are willing to spend a couple hundred dollars. Guns of any size and magnitude are still deadly weapons, and if the plethora of alternatives to acquiring weapons continues to exist, teens will continue to murder each other.

The ghost gun pictured above was used in the murder of two teens in Springfield, Virginia. It was bought by an 18 year old.

 

What are the consequences for young people when they commit these crimes?

As the teens are under the age of 18, they will face time in juvie before most likely being released at age 21. Does juvie change them? Probably not. Most of these teens come back to society with merely a slap on the wrist, likely to involve themselves in violence and gang activity once again. The relatively skimpy punishments for minors creates a difficult dichotomy — should our criminal justice system be locking up teens for decades on the basis of committing violent crimes when they were 15 or 16? Many would say no, but then what is the solution? Joe Houston, a formerly incarcerated 16 year old, says that the issue starts with equitable resources and mentorship for D.C. youth in all neighborhoods. Parents need to be held accountable and positive role models such as coaches and teachers need to encourage positive behavior over impulsive violence. While appearing simple, this is a huge ask for households with violent or unstable parents; aggravating the issue is a wealth and resource disparity, with neighborhoods in Southeast D.C. facing worse schools and less recreational opportunities for children. Children who have violent parents and grow up hearing gunshots need more help than those attending private schools in posh neighborhoods.  

Washington D.C. has an enormous geographic homicide disparity. Southeast DC faces much more crime than its richer, Northwest counterpart.

 

What has D.C. done to stop this trend?

Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Council recognized the concerning uptick in crime in 2023, passing a new emergency crime bill in July, 2023. The bill provides stricter guidance to curtail the violent weapon emergency that plagues Washington D.C., increasing the penalties for crimes such as carjackings and making it easier to keep violent suspects in custody. While in theory, arresting more criminals for longer, thus preventing repeat offenders is a good idea. Sadly, this may not be helpful for the teens who are committing offenses. Do stricter gun laws mean that more teenagers will be arrested and with stricter consequences? Do we want to be locking our teens up for longer based on decisions they made before their brains fully develop? While Mayor Bowser diligently aims to take guns and criminals off the street by addressing traditional, adult criminals, the issue of teens participating in violent situations remains acute. 

 

Is this happening in other cities too?

Absolutely. Following the invention of the automobile, the leading cause of deaths for young people were car crashes. In 2020, guns surpassed that mark. As Americans watch teens destroy families and lives in mass shootings such as in Uvalde and Buffalo, smaller, isolated instances of crime remain out of the limelight. Two thirds of all gun deaths involving children were homicides, committed by other teens. Between 2019 and 2021, there was a 50% increase in gun deaths for teens and children in the United States. 

 

What’s next?

At some point, something will have to give, whether it is locking up teens with harsher sentences, pouring millions of dollars into infrastructure to help provide positive role models for teens, or maybe even by meticulously removing all guns out of the city. Unless some change happens, something never proposed by Mayor Bowser before, teenagers will continue to terrorize cities. They will continue to kill each other off before they hit their 20th birthdays. I’m not sure which crime prevention strategy American cities will implement, but it will be fascinating to see how this rising impact of teenage crime will be addressed by those who serve to protect us.

Map of all gun violence in the DMV area committed by teens.

 

Suggested Reading

Washington Post: “Teens buying ghost guns online, with deadly consequences.” By Tom Jackman and Emily Davies