AURORA, Colo. โ As 2024 ends, Denver7 is taking a closer look at youth crime in Aurora. Numbers we obtained through an open records request from the Aurora Police Department give a picture of this type of crime, but a community advocate says the numbers do not tell the full story.
For eight years, Royal Mentoring Group has spent time helping out people in Denver and Aurora.
โWeโre an at-risk mentoring group. We work in juvenile facilities, high schools, middle schools, and do home visits on the street for at-risk youth,โ said Xavier Davis, who runs the Royal Mentoring Group.
Aurora police records show decline in youth arrests and summons in 2024
Davis helps young people channel their emotions in a place like a recording studio he has established, but he knows there is more beyond the microphone who needs help.
โThe kids that we work with, you know, visiting the jails, and Iโm just getting phone calls from mothers. Weโre seeing it. And itโs rising and itโs getting worse and worse. And itโs bad when itโs getting worse,โ Davis said.
Records from the Aurora Police Department over the last three years show an increase between 2022 and 2023 of arrests and summons for teens 13 to 18. As of Nov. 15, 2024, the number of arrests and summons for teens in Aurora is down.
Eddie Flores
โIf we only focus on arrest and incarceration, then weโre not dealing with the underlying complex causes that continue to contribute to a life of gun violence and that group involvement,โ said Capt. Mike Hanifin with the Aurora Police Department.
Capt. Hanifin said the Aurora SAVES program, which stands for Standing Against Violence Every Day, is making a difference by working hand-in-hand with the community. That is evident through connecting with community organizations to help mentor youth in the community.
โSomeone whoโs been through something similar and can speak to that experience is really impactful, and also to show that there is a way, you know, to progress out of it. There is a way to make some changes,โ said Lisa Battan, intervention programs manager of SAVES.
While the numbers look to be trending in a lower direction, Davis said there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.
โI just have to go off of what I see in the phone calls that I get from others, what Iโm seeing in the jails, what Iโm seeing in the courts,โ Davis said.
Davis said young people in Aurora are looking for belonging, so parents have a role to bring an end to youth violence.
โWe have to step up as a community if we want to save these babies. (We need to be) willing to, as adults, come together and say, โHey, weโre going to actually step up and actually do this work,'โ Davis said.
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