BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. — After two incidents at parks in Golden Valley and Brooklyn Park, police departments say strategies need to change regarding youth gun violence.
Chief Virgil Green of the Golden Valley Police Department said the problem is resurfacing now that it's warmer.
"It's kind of going into spring and there has been a large group of kids throughout the Twin Cities area who are showing up at area parks." said Virgil.
This past weekend, the chief says they found a boy suffering from a gunshot wound at Lions Park. There were other kids who arrived at hospitals with similar injuries that night.
Also this past weekend, Brooklyn Park Police responded to Willowstone Park for a shooting. When officers arrived, cars sped off and chased one vehicle until it crashed. They took two kids into custody who had handguns, and those two were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. They later arrested two other kids with guns. They say there were no injuries related to gunfire.
"A lot of this violence, we believe, is tied together," said Inspector Elliot Faust with Brooklyn Park Police. "And the nature of the connection is still a little bit unclear."
Brooklyn Park Police are still piecing the shooting together, but one thing is obvious to them. That the trend of youth violence continues to grow.
Faust says violent crimes with youth are prevalent, but not new. So the department wants to try something different.
"We're going to have folks that work very closely with the police department, that also work very closely with the community, that have close strong ties with the community," he said. "And they can go out and... focus on youth that we think could be going down the wrong path."
They're hiring people who aren't law enforcement such as those who have worked in schools or community centers to work with officers.
"It's no secret that trust in law enforcement is an issue in our community, it has been for years," said Faust. "We think that these folks are better situated to direct them to the other path. And we... probably will have a role to play in that. But I think, by and large, the main strategy is to use people that are not police officers that have those different skill sets."
They hope this new approach will lead to new results.
Both departments say another big issue that they face is that too often juveniles can get back on the street quickly, even after violent crimes. They also agree kids should not only get help, but should be held accountable for their actions.
"They're back out on the street, and they're back out committing the same kind of crime," said Green. "They're being released very quickly back into the community."
Both Green and Faust said youth crime will need to be handled with community effort, and immediate steps taken by the department include added patrols to parks.
"Everybody is a stakeholder in making sure that their communities are safe," said Faust.
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