The black religious leaders of the Minneapolis community are urging parents to seek help in rescuing wayward children

MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police arrested six children on Tuesdayall under the age of 15, after a car chase and accidents involving stolen cars.

Police say the children jumped out of a stolen vehicle after it crashed on Interstate 94. Officers arrested three boys and two girls. One of the girls is in hospital but is expected to be OK.

Police Chief Brian O’Hara says it’s part of a vicious cycle that the system can’t handle.

“It almost seems like this activity is done for fun and it sometimes feels like the kids are beating us at our own game here, that we haven’t been able to capitalize on this enough,” O’Hara said.

Police responded to reports of robberies involving a firearm. All stolen cars are KIAs. Police found a third abandoned copy later on Tuesday.

Community members are working together to tackle the problem.

For 34 years, Rev. Jerry McAfee and New Salem Missionary Baptist Church on the front lines to help the community help itself.

“Never stop achieving, and that’s our motto. We never stop achieving,” McAfee said.

Another recent incident caught on video: involving a 10-year-old boy behind the wheel of a stolen cardriving dangerously close to children on a playground – has shocked the police and the community to the core.

“This is a case, like others, where parents need help,” O’Hara said. “It’s not a matter of parental negligence.”

That’s why McAfee asks parents to call him if they need help with their children.

“To help that child, you have to figure out where the breakdowns are happening and how we can fix them,” McAfee said. “It’s the community and the police working together for the best interests of that child.”

That’s why he calls all hands on deck.

“I know what it’s like to have your child out there, you don’t know where they stand and they’ve gotten into something that you certainly haven’t taught or preached, that they’ve gotten into for whatever reason,” said he. . “But if you’re just going to sit at home, I say let’s get up and go get them.”

McAfee, Salem Inc., 21 Days of Peace and A Mother’s Love are all groups willing to walk with parents struggling with their children.

“I think one of the things that’s missing in our community is that most people don’t know about the resources that most churches have, and churches are willing to help,” McAfee said.

Some parents reach out.

“I’ve had two people in the last two months whose children were part of these Kia boys and Honda girls, and they were calling for help,” said Monique Flowers with A Mother’s Love.

Their screams have grown louder after two weekends of violence at the same intersection in downtown Minneapolis. A 16-year-old girl was run over and killed and two men – 20 and 21 years old – were shot.

“The community organizations are trying to be a friendly face to the police,” Flowers said. “If the police contact them, they let us know. We try to talk to them, ‘Hey, we can take you to the bus stop, just get on the bus instead of going to the curfew center.'”

Since this collaboration, there have been no shootings and no deaths in the city center in the past three weeks. It’s a streak that McAfee hopes to continue.

“Come on, let’s do this together. You don’t have to do it alone. We’ll do it with you,” McAfee said.

Stairstep Foundation has a booklet with every African-American church in the area that wants to help parents. If you need immediate help with your child, please call New Salem Missionary Baptist Church.