Officials agree: Everyone needs to get on board with helping tackle juvenile crime

Yahoo

06-02-2025

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — In the wake of a botched car theft that left a 9-year-old with a gunshot wound to the chest, attention is again back on juvenile crime.
And with that scrutiny comes questions like 'how is this happening' or 'what can be done?'
Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria spoke with passion and emotion during a brief news conference Tuesday night, urging parents and school personnel to get involved. And on Wednesday, educators agreed, saying they had a role to play in keeping the city's streets safe.
Efforts need to be focused on reaching children before they pick up the guns and before a quest to steal a car goes horrifically wrong, said Carl Cannon, whose ELITE Program has worked with troubled youths for years.
ELITE is an outreach program designed to teach children about character, respect and also job skills. The program stresses that if one puts in the work, they will be rewarded at some point.
Cannon stresses the importance of catching patterns early.
'That young man was fifteen, he was ten, he was nine, and he had a profile at nine and he had a profile at eight,' Cannon said. 'If he had a profile, then let's get to the eight year old, let's get to the nine year old and let's address that profile at eight and nine.'
He also broke down what ELITE looks into when filing profiles.
'I read four kinds of data when we're working with our kids,' Cannon said. 'It's attendance, behavior, grades, and then look at home.'
The older teen, whose name was not given because he is a juvenile, was arrested Monday and taken to the Peoria County Juvenile Detention Center. He was booked on charges of aggravated battery and attempted motor vehicle theft.
As of Wednesday afternoon, he had not been formally charged in Peoria County Circuit Court, either as a juvenile or as an adult.
The boy, the chief said, has a history of arrests, dating back five years. Among the arrests were possession of a weapon, criminal trespass and robbery. In total, Echevarria said, the boy has been arrested about 20 times.
According to information from Sgt. Amy Dotson, a 9-year-old boy was injured after a botched car burglary on Sunday.
Officers originally responded to the shooting that occurred near the 1200 block of Southwest Phoenix Drive at approximately 8:30 p.m. Sunday. When officers arrived on the scene, they found a boy with a gunshot wound to the chest. The boy was rushed to the hospital, where he was said to be in stable condition, according to Dotson.
Police Chief Echevarria said Tuesday night that 'we need to stop working in silos and figure out how do we work together to solve these issues.' He went on to say it isn't a police issue.
Peoria Public Schools Superintendent Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat said the district already works closely with the police department.
'We're all on the same page,' she said. 'We have a great relationship and we're on speed dial. We share data. We share information and there know there there's nothing but love amongst everybody to help make our city as strong and and as safe as possible.'
The boy who was shot, Desmoulin-Kherat said, was a PPS student and that makes the shooting especially hard. But as a community, the district is working to help 'think outside the box' to help prevent crime.
'For every incidents that gets reported, there are a lot of them that are solved,' she said. 'I'm proud of the collaboration . . . it's all hand on deck.'
She said there is progress being made. There are things still to do but progress is being made.
Mayor Rita Ali took part in the press conference Tuesday and joined Echevarria in thanking officers and detectives for their work in finding a suspect within 24 hours of the shooting, and she was grateful that the victim is in good condition.
'I'm delighted that he's going to grow up, hopefully, to be an adult and be able to give back to his community,' she said.
She too, echoed what the chief said — that the schools are a vital part of the solution.
'It's going to take our schools working with our not-for-profit agencies. It's going to take our religious institutions and families getting nosy into the lives of their children,' she said.
2nd District Councilman Chuck Grayeb, who is running for mayor against Ali and At-Large Councilman John Kelly, reiterated that he and the rest of the council, along with law enforcement believe the SAFE-T Act, which overhauled the state's criminal justice system a few years ago, needs to be reformed.
Grayeb, a former educator, said there needs to be more accountability for parents and that all parties, including the schools need to take a much stronger stance with the police department in order to help with the issues that confront teens in Peoria.
But he also stressed there must be consequences: ''Catch and release' of dangerous individuals whether adults or juveniles must stop. Law abiding citizens deserve nothing less.'
Kelly said the city of Peoria is 'stagnant and stagnant in declining cities have unacceptable crime rates.' Peoria, he said, is like other cities that are suffering from such issues. One way that a city can combat crime is to grow economically will offer more chances and opportunities.
'Our police do a great job, but they sweep up after the crime. The answer is a change in culture which comes from real opportunity in our city,' he said. 'As it stands, status quo in our city does not offer real opportunity.'
Crime will still occur but the rate of crime will drop, he said.
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