Crimes against persons and property committed by youth in Pueblo up 28% in the last three years

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- For much of 2023, 13 Investigates has been diving into noticeable increases in teens being arrested for violent crimes like murder and attempted murder in Pueblo. Now, the Pueblo Police Department (PPD) is releasing numbers that show the trend has been going in the wrong direction for multiple years.

According to the PPD, crimes against persons and property committed by youth under the age of 18 were up 28% between 2019 and 2022. The PPD says that figure is really highlighted by a recent string of arrests of very young kids for murder, including a 1st-degree murder arrested of a 13-year-old kid last week.

"Being involved with killing people and trying to kill people, that's concerning, especially at such a young age," PPD Sergeant Franklyn Ortega said. "It just seems like the family structure, it's not there. They don't have people that tell them, don't do that."

The three-year time frame from which this data was collected coincides with an event like the global COVID-19 pandemic where kids were often at home without the structure of an in-person schooling environment.

"There are studies now that show that the crime rate can be contributed directly to the pandemic. I mean, it was a thing where we were holed up for a certain amount of time," Sgt. Ortega said. "I hate to say the proof is there, but the proof is there."

Another alarming reality for police is re-arresting youth for more crimes even after an initial contact that may have resulted in an arrest. This is because Colorado state lawmakers have reduced the amount of youth detention space significantly since 2003.

20 years ago, the Division of Youth Services had 479 youth detention bed spaces across the state. Now, in 2023, that number has plummeted to 215, including only 10 available beds at the Pueblo Youth Center, where potentially dangerous youth go before their trial in Pueblo.

"Once those beds are taken, they need to either transfer that juvenile to a different facility or release them to put the new juvenile that's committed this new crime in that facility," Sgt. Ortega said.

This bed cap issue has drawn the ire of the Pueblo County District Attorney, Jeff Chostner. His office's juvenile prosecutor, Anne Mayer, told 13 Investigates in April that the number of adult filings, also known as juvenile cases being transferred to adult court, has spiked in recent years.

"The seriousness has gone way up. It used to be that we would have one or two adult filings a year. Now it's probably eight, maybe more, just because of the serious nature of the crimes that are occurring," Mayer said.

Without the possibility of using the Pueblo County Jail for pre-trial confinement, and the Pueblo Youth Center, seemingly at capacity every year, the DA's office says the community is suffering.

"We know that violent crime is increasing. Overall crime is increasing among this population, and yet our beds are going down. You end up having to choose between two people that are not safe to release," Mayer said.

Some notable arrests for violent behavior include the June arrests of five teens, all connected to gangs, for various attempted murders connected to drive-by shootings. The PPD says the shootings were perpetuated by teens associated with known and dangerous gangs in the city; Feed the Family and the East Side Dukes.

"A lot of people grow up in broken homes and things of that nature and are underprivileged. It's something that can be prevented if our community would set our differences to the side and turn to each other," Mark Salazar, a former gang member turned youth advocate, said.

Salazar is one of the few citizens taking this issue head-on, leaning in on helpings kids get out of the system before they enter the Pueblo Youth Center or any other juvenile detention facility across the state.

"Unfortunately, those of us that are fatherless are at greater risk of becoming a product and statistic of the system. So you do need positive role models out here and positive women role models out here as well," Salazar said.

Salazar says many of the youth he works with are "misguided and misdirected." He says his goal is to show them a different path that doesn't include resorting to violence to solve their problems.

"They got to realize that the streets don't love them. They only take them away from the people that do," Salazar said.