Lubbock Police Chief Looks to City Council for Funds to Combat Juvenile Crime

Lubbock Police Chief Floyd Mitchell has requested more money from the city budget to help with an increase in juvenile crime rates.

KAMC news reported that during Tuesday's Special City Council Meeting, Chief Mitchell stated that Lubbock has seen an increased rate in juvenile crime this year. Chief Mitchell stated that sometimes parents have jobs or are single parents and it's difficult for them to be with their children all of the time, which can cause safety issues for the community depending on their actions.

Chief Juvenile Probation Officer William Carter was brought in and addressed the city council, stating that referrals for juvenile offenders have gone up 30 percent since January with the number of felony offenses increasing by 33 percent. There has been an overall increase within the last four years of weapon offenses and drug offenses, said Officer Carter. He added that the Juvenile Justice Center is currently at full capacity as many minors await trial.

Chief Mitchell stated that the juvenile curfew has not been enforced and is hoping to allocate more officers towards that with funding for a Juvenile Curfew Enforcement Program.

The City of Lubbock has a city ordinance in place that puts all minors under the age of 17 in a curfew. That curfew goes into effect during the weekdays, Monday through Thursday, that no minor is allowed to be in a public area unaccompanied by a parent or legal guardian after 11 p.m.. The same ordinance has different hours starting on the weekends, Friday through Sunday, with the same rules just an hour difference being after midnight.