SEATTLE — A Tacoma police officer recovering in the hospital after being shot in the shoulder Wednesday afternoon while trying to make contact with those in a car driving erratically. Two teens are now in custody.
“What’s really sad is that they’re 14 and 15 years old and had no business driving a car and definitely had no business having access to a gun," said Victoria Woodards, Tacoma mayor. "I think about all the work we’ve done this summer to invest in our young people to provide opportunities to them and places for them to go and be safe and we missed the mark on this one."
This latest high-profile violent crime highlights an increase in juvenile crime across Pierce County.
Data from the Pierce County Prosecutor's Office showed the number of juvenile murder or attempted murder cases this year is eight, just shy of 2022’s total of nine.
Some of the crimes with the biggest increase are attempting to elude a police vehicle and the number of stolen car charges.
There have been 101 robbery-related cases by the end of July. There were 64 cases in all of 2022.
“We're seeing the same trends too,” said Casey McNerthney, spokesperson for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Juvenile crime is a problem in King County too. The King County Prosecuting Attorney's office said juvenile crime cases are on the rise from pandemic lows but expected to be at the same level seen in 2019.
Monday, Seattle police said four teenagers were involved in a chase with a stolen car in Rainier Beach. None of them are old enough to drive, only 12 and 13 years old.
The latest data available from King County prosecutors showed robbery and felony assaults are the most common types of crimes when looking at the most serious felony cases in juvenile court.
“When you see an extreme case of violence, it needs to go before the court," McNerthney said. "We do that every day, making sure that there's proper accountability there, but it also shows the importance of reaching kids with good mentors and trying to help them before the point of extreme violence."
When teens find themselves in trouble, a recent state law requires officers to connect them to an attorney before questioning.
“It's really clear that those kids were not understanding what was happening, that the situation was too stressful, too overwhelming," said Liz Mustin, managing attorney for the Washington Youth Access Counsel Program with the Washington State of Public Defense. "Sometimes, frankly, the language of Miranda warnings is too complex for kids to understand."
The law went into effect in January 2022 and put a hotline in place with four attorneys on call 24/7 for consultations. A majority of the calls were answered in under a minute with attorneys helping juveniles understand the rights they already have.
"We have the opportunity to speak with kids in some of their toughest times and really help them kind of re-center, bring them down and be able to make smart decisions and be able to interact respectfully and in a way that doesn't harm them in the future,” Mustin said.
The hotline has connected 3,395 minors with an attorney.
“I think one thing that this law does that's really wonderful is really evens the playing field for kids who would have no means to access an attorney,” Mustin said.