NC juvenile justice system works to handle rise in offenses

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- From the classroom to the community, crimes committed by young people are on the rise.

In the last year, there's been a 21% increase in juvenile offenses and a 24% increase in the number of complaints coming into the North Carolina juvenile justice system

ABC11 sat down with Deputy Secretary William Lassiter who leads the Division of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. He describes the system as more rehabilitation than punitive.

"The juvenile justice system in the state, of North Carolina, is set up as a therapeutic system," said Lassiter.

"It is based on, a lot of people use the word rehabilitation. I use the word habilitation. For a lot of the kids that come into our juvenile justice system they've never been taught basic skills that you and I learned as kids from our parents. So, one of the goals of our system is really to make sure that we can get those services, teach them basic skills, like how to introduce themselves, how to accept no as an answer, and how to be successful in life and give them the skills that they need so they don't get back in trouble," Lassiter continued.

But will this framework that focuses on rehabilitation more than punitive measures stop guns from coming into North Carolina schools? Lassiter said it has to some degree.

"What we have seen, especially with kids that have made threats on school campuses and kids that have brought guns to schools, they don't recidivate. They don't get back in trouble. That means the services that we are putting in place are keeping them from getting back in trouble with the system," explained Lassiter.

"What we need to do a better job with right now is preventing them from getting there in the first place, where they are not bringing that gun or they're not making that threat on the school campus to start with," he continued.

Between Jan. 1, 2022, and Feb. 28, 2023:

19 juveniles were sent to court for communicating a threat of mass violence on educational property in Wake County.

12 juveniles were approved for court for an offense involving a firearm on school grounds in Wake County.

Three of the children were detained in juvenile detention.

"I think a lot of people think, well, why didn't this kid go to detention? The reality is that we've got to make the best decision for that kid not to re-offend. And if the best decision is, hey, we can work with this child and this family, in the community, and put services in place with this kid to make sure they don't re-offend, we're going to do that one, " continued Lassiter.

Apart of the decision-making process also comes down to space and staff. Wednesday night 550 children were inside a state-operated detention center. 25 more people over capacity. They're also down 400 detention officers.

"We really try to reserve detention in for the most at-risk kids. And so two things play into the dynamic there. One is do we have the capacity to house that kid and provide them with the proper services that they need," continued Lassiter.