MINNEAPOLIS — Children steal cars is a crisis that everyone is working hard to solve, but tackling traffic crime is a challenge.
According to the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, there were 4,039 reports of stolen vehicles in the county in the first six months of the year.
But those reports rarely result in cases being sent to the county attorney’s office, which says it has received fewer than 500 this year. Half of those cases involve minors.
Both prosecutors and police say car thefts are difficult to prove.
Stolen cars are left on the side of the road with no suspect and little evidence.
“The things we have to do to prove who is in the car is who is actually driving,” Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt said during a roundtable discussion Tuesday.
Top law enforcement officials say when they arrest drivers, they face another hurdle: the lack of facilities to pick them up.
“We understand the impact of youth coming into the system, but there is a gap and there needs to be a time out,” said Minnetonka Police Chief Scott Boerboom.
Meanwhile, the Hennepin County Prosecutor’s Office believes that Initiative for intervention in car theft among young people has delivered results since its launch last summer.
“Of the youth who have been referred and contacted through a county social worker, 81 percent have had no new charges filed,” said Sarah Davis, director of the Hennepin County Prosecutor’s Office of Children and Families.
But both top police officers and those on the street believe more needs to be done.
