In the past year, there has been a rise in the brazenness with which our young people commit crimes. How can you tell? You can’t.
The Maryland General Assembly essentially legalized crime last year by passing a law that prevents children under the age of 13 from being “charged with a crime” unless the offense was violent. This must be reversed. The legislature also made it difficult or even unlawful for law enforcement officials to conduct interviews with children who were accused of committing crimes by “prohibiting the interrogation of a child by a law enforcement officer until the child has consulted with a certain attorney and a notice has been provided to the child’s parents, guardian, or custodian” when a child has been taken into custody — yet another way in which lawmakers restricted the authority of law enforcement. It too, must be changed.
In the event that a child of 8 years old commits a crime, it is not necessarily the case that the child will be placed in juvenile imprisonment. That was never the goal. Rather, the children will be redirected by law enforcement to a system that is designed to provide them with support.
In 2023, an 11-year-old boy had at least 17 “contacts” with law enforcement officers, all of which were related to the theft or attempted theft of vehicles in Baltimore city and county. Why were the incidents classified as “contacts”? Because the General Assembly of Maryland decriminalized the act of stealing automobiles for someone the boy’s age. Just picture yourself leaving your house in the morning to discover that your automobile has been stolen. Imagine for a moment that the authorities were aware of the perpetrators, but they were unable to take any action against them because they were under 13.
The cost of these damages must be borne by someone. There is no provision in the law that allows for the parents or guardians to be held accountable for their child’s actions. Therefore, it will be the taxpayers who are responsible. Surely this young boy was aware that what he was doing was wrong. When he was confronted by the police, he quickly responded by saying, “I’m 11.” He knew.
Now, imagine for a moment that someone has had a crime committed against them. Maybe a number of juveniles are responsible for a serious assault. In the event that a juvenile is caught, he or she cannot be questioned by law enforcement without the permission of the parents or the presence of an attorney. An attorney likely will not permit the juveniles to communicate, hampering the investigation, which likely will result in dangerous individuals being allowed to continue their activities and put civilians at risk of injury.
Juveniles who commit crimes are playing in an adult arena. The same rules should apply to them. What the Maryland General Assembly fails to recognize is that our culture has been denigrated. It would have been unimaginable 20 years ago for a child of 11 years old to steal an automobile by themselves. The unfortunate reality is that our young people are being exposed to more and more adult content at younger and younger ages.
Our law enforcement gets a “bad rap” when the real problem is our lawmakers. Our law enforcement officials have the potential to change the course of events in Baltimore and the counties that surround it if they are given the support they deserve. These ineffective juvenile justice laws have a genuine opportunity to be undone during this legislative session by the Maryland General Assembly, which has the potential to establish a climate in Maryland that is favorable to law enforcement. This will have a direct impact on crime and will be of assistance in the recruitment of law enforcement personnel. The taxpayers, and the lawmakers’ voters, deserve to feel safe.
David Folderauer (dfolderauer@foplodge4.org) is the immediate past president of Baltimore County’s Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4.
