A car theft case involving children aged 10, 11, and 12 has Windsor’s police chief warning about the changing seriousness of youth crime. The service has assigned an officer to track youth cases, while questions have emerged about whether parents could face consequences. Chief Jason Crowley told the Windsor Police Service Board on Thursday that charges against young people were up 25 per cent so far this year compared with the same period last year. But his concern extends beyond the numbers to the types of offences police are encountering. Crowley cited the case during Thursday’s police board meeting, saying police had issued a news release about it within the previous two weeks. “I can honestly say, at 10 years old, I was worried about what my next baseball game was, not about stealing a car,” he said. Deputy Chief Kenneth Cribley said officers are dealing with youth cases involving home invasions, stolen vehicles, bear spray, and edged weapons. Crowley also raised concerns about violence involving firearms. Windsor police have reassigned a constable as youth crime coordinator to review youth files, identify trends, track previous warnings and referrals, and work with investigators, Crown attorneys and community agencies. Cribley said he believed the officer began the role around the beginning of June. But for Joanna Conrad, executive director of Youth Diversion Essex County, a particularly valuable part of the role is helping her staff understand connections between young people that may not be apparent from an individual case. “Very rarely are we presented with the entire story in one file,” she said. “Are they connected to other peers and how big does this go and what does that influence look like?” Conrad said knowing about relationships and conflicts between groups can give staff a fuller understanding of a young person’s circumstances. The coordinator also provides a single police contact, reducing time spent trying to find the right officer to discuss a referral. She said there are often opportunities to intervene before a child becomes involved in a serious incident. “Very rarely does it go from zero to 100,” she said. “Oftentimes, there are a lot of red flags along the way in terms of what they’re engaging in, who they’re talking to, what their influences are.” Those warning signs can be missed, she said, along with opportunities to help children learn accountability and provide support to their families. Children under 12 cannot be held criminally responsible in Canada. Section 13 of the Criminal Code bars conviction for conduct committed before that age. Crowley said referrals to community agencies are among the options available to police dealing with younger children. For youth old enough to face charges, he said warnings and diversion can help avoid bringing a child into the criminal justice system unnecessarily. “This may be the very first and maybe the only time that they made a mistake,” he said. Crowley reported increases in diversion cases and warnings as well as charges. He suggested consultation with Crown attorneys before charges are laid may be contributing to the increase in diversion. The 25 per cent figure measures charges, rather than establishing an equivalent increase in the number of young people offending. Crowley linked some of the increase in charges to repeat offending after earlier opportunities for warnings or diversion. Cribley said officers work with Crown attorneys to assess the appropriate response in individual cases. Asked what was driving the trend, he declined to speculate. “I talk a lot about accountability. And where does it start? Does it start at school? At the home of the parents? I don’t know,” he said. At the board meeting, Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac asked whether police keep records of warnings. Crowley confirmed that they do. Gignac then questioned what other options might be available when a child’s behaviour is not changing. “If we’re not seeing a dramatic change, is there an opportunity for us to charge the parents?” she asked. Crowley called the idea “worth exploring,” but did not identify a specific offence or explain what legal grounds would allow parents to be charged in the circumstances she described. He said many of the children police encounter lack support at home and pointed to work with agencies including the Children’s Aid Society and New Beginnings. For Conrad, understanding a child’s circumstances is essential to choosing a response that can prevent another incident. She has worked at Youth Diversion since 2009 and said the needs of the young people referred to the organization have become increasingly complex. Two children referred for shoplifting, for example, may be acting for very different reasons. Conrad cited possibilities ranging from peer pressure and substance use to hunger. The offence alone does not explain what support a child needs. “You can’t prevent crime from happening without first understanding why it’s happening,” she said. Conrad also believes repeated exposure to violent or other harmful content can affect what young people consider normal. Adults often compare current behaviour with their own childhoods, she said, without accounting for differences in the information and influences children encounter today. “What the kids are engaging in today is not reflective of what we’re used to expecting,” she said. Conrad cautioned, however, that circumstances differ from child to child and there is no single explanation that applies to every case. She also acknowledged why members of the public may see diversion as an easy way out, particularly when an incident has endangered others. But she said participation requires young people to accept responsibility. “They have to admit that they’ve done it, that they’re going to take accountability,” she said. Depending on the case, the work can include programming, community service, restitution or participation in a youth justice committee where a young person and a victim discuss the harm and how to address it. Staff establishes goals and measures a young person must complete to be considered successful, Conrad said. The work can also involve helping a child recognize and manage anger before it becomes a violent outburst, supporting a family, or finding activities and transportation that reduce time spent around harmful influences. Conrad described working with young people referred after assaults to help them recognize when they are becoming overwhelmed and learn how to calm themselves. That work, she said, benefits the child and the people around them, including family members and others at school. Crowley said youth crime is discussed weekly among senior police leaders. The service has already redirected resources from other areas and will likely do more. Conrad said the aim of intervention is to equip young people to make a different decision when they encounter a similar situation again. “Ideally, that’s what we’re really here to do, is to help kids understand why they made a poor choice,” she said. “What they can do different in the future, and allow them the opportunity to learn from that.”
