TAMPA — Legislation signed into Florida law in 2022 that changed how long juveniles can be held in pre-trial detention before adjudicatory hearings has led to a “drastic reduction” in crimes such as auto robberies, a top law enforcement official said Wednesday.
“There were kids 13, 14, 15-years-old prolifically across Florida who were out stealing cars, breaking into cars, breaking into cars taking guns, and it’s a big problem,” said Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, speaking during the Florida Association of Counties legislative conference in Tampa.
Previously, Gualtieri said, there were “no consequences” for misbehaving juveniles regarding such crimes, because the longest that a judge could hold them in custody was 21 days. “That’s it. The court lost jurisdiction. They could not hold a kid from the time the kid was arrested and trial was two years down the road,” he said. “Those kids didn’t care. … They got out and they just committed more robberies or more burglaries.”…