Several law enforcement agencies in central Ohio came together Thursday morning to provide an update on the growing number of juveniles committing robberies and car thefts.
The meeting comes four weeks after the agencies first came together to crack down on a group of about 40 juveniles police say were responsible for the spike.
During the meeting, police announced their goals of reducing crime is working to an extent.
The mayor of Whitehall says since the city started the collaboration, they have seen a 50% reduction in juvenile crime.
However, crime has not slowed everywhere. In Columbus, there were 600 more car thefts from December to mid-March this year compared to last year.
“Maybe our residents in Gahanna haven't been the victim of crime, but they only need to look to the 6 p.m. news when they are seeing all of these things. A lot of these things are starting to hit home,” said Gahanna Police Chief Jeffrey Spence.
Chief Spence says in the past week, a 15-year-old violently carjacked a Kroger employee and admitted to about 50 similar incidents.
“It's going to take a village to solve all of these problems. It's not law enforcement, it's not judges, it's not prosecutors, it's all of us,” Chief Spence said.
Pastor Victor Davis says he is working with the police, judges and prosecutors so they can all sit-down and find the best solution.
“We hope to bring resolution to the problem and not just address it and talk about it, but bring some positive resolution for our young people,” Davis said.
The chiefs say they are going to continue to work together to crack down on their problem to help protect the community.
You can watch the Franklin County Chiefs Association's full press conference below.