TACOMA, Wash. — Pierce County’s Juvenile Court system weighed in on youth violence during Tacoma’s weekly study session.
The agency presented data to city leaders and highlighted some concerning trends.
“We are on pace to be exceedingly high for our felonies this year,” said TJ Bohl, who served as the administrator of the Pierce County Juvenile Court.
According to the findings, 2022 saw a rise in juveniles being charged with felonies, particularly violent felonies against people. The report also showed a disturbing pattern as far as which youths get referred to Juvenile Court.
According to the findings, law enforcement was over five times more likely to refer Black juveniles to the juvenile court than their white counterparts.
Black juveniles currently make up 60% of the detention population, despite being only 12% of Pierce County’s overall population.
The report also says around two-thirds of juveniles from Tacoma who were referred to juvenile court last year live in two areas: Tacoma’s Eastside and South Tacoma.
Tacoma Councilmember Kiara Daniels says that’s not a coincidence.
“I think this is directly related to, as other councilmembers have alluded to, infrastructure, other things, programming that we put in our neighborhoods,” she said.
However, the juvenile court system says there’s hope.
The agency says it’s been moving away from a surveillance-based model, as seen in the adult probation system, to focus more on changing behavior and partnering with youth organizations to help young people feel more connected to their community.
Bohl says this approach has led to a significant decline in juveniles falling back into the system.
“I think it speaks to the power of community and speaks to tapping into young people’s potential, and if you focus on their strengths as opposed to their deficits, you get a lot more benefit, and it promotes more long-term behavior change than just the short-term surveillance oriented kind of model,” he said.