Juvenile crime is exploding – with more kids committing more violent crimes around Puget Sound. Now KIRO7 is finding out, that a lot of crime from juveniles is committed by kids who identify as gang members.
Data from the Washington State Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WSASPC) shows juvenile arrests in 2021 totaled 4,625 arrests. That shot up to 7,730 arrests in 2023 – an uptick of 67 percent.
In fact, both Everett and Renton police say, most kids who commit violent crimes identify as being part of a gang.
“For sure the majority,” said Sgt. David Sinex of the Everett Police Department.
“Yeah, I’d say a majority,” said Renton Police Chief, Jon Schuldt.
But gangs have evolved since their heyday in the early 90′s. Now gangs are more fractured, harder to identify – and harder to track. But they’re no less dangerous.
“Assaults with firearms, homicides, carjackings, robberies… pursuits in stolen cars,” said Chief Schuldt.
And sometimes, graffiti and turf wars are still at play.