Latest / Brian Thomas / Chief Scott Hughes - New Juvenile Reform Bill in Columbus

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Chief Scott Hughes - New Juvenile Reform Bill in Columbus · Brian Thomas

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Speaker 1: Seven oh five here at fifty five KRCIT Talk station.
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Speaker 1: Happy Friday, Brian Thomas, please to welcome to fifty five
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Speaker 1: Carsee Morning Show, Hamilton Township, Chief Scott he is. Please
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Speaker 1: defarmer Chief Scott. He was welcome to the morning show.
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Speaker 1: It's a real pleasure to have you on today.
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Speaker 2: Good morning, Brian, Happy Friday.
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Speaker 1: Right back at you, Scott. I appreciate that sharing the
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Speaker 1: sentiment I feel on a Friday, happy happy happy center
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Speaker 1: Bill two seventy not happy. And props to Signal ninety nine,
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Speaker 1: who's a fellow law enforcement reformer law enforcement officer. She
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Speaker 1: posts things all the time. She brought this up. You
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Speaker 1: had an excellent analysis on your Facebook page about Senate
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Speaker 1: Bill two seventy, which is juvenile justice reform in quotes.
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Speaker 1: But you've got a problem with this, and I think
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Speaker 1: I'm really sharing your concern. So let's talk about what
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Speaker 1: this is going to do. And honestly, a Chief I
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Speaker 1: really want to know is what's the answer to the
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Speaker 1: why question? What's the motive behind this? Because it seems
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Speaker 1: like we're going in the opposite direction with regard to
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Speaker 1: how we plan on treating well criminal youth in art
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Speaker 1: in our area. But let's talk about the specifics of
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Speaker 1: spend It Bill two seventy.
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Speaker 2: Well, thanks Brian. My concern with zenevill two seventy is simple.
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Speaker 2: It makes accountability for juvenile offenders weaker at a time,
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Speaker 2: but honestly, we need it's stronger. It raises the age
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Speaker 2: for which you can commit someone to dys which is
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Speaker 2: the Department of New Services. It blocks commitments for some
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Speaker 2: first time at seventy four and seventy five, softening consequences
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Speaker 2: for gun cases. And uh, you know, juvenile crime is
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Speaker 2: out of control everywhere in this country, and we're seeing
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Speaker 2: it right here in Warren County. We're seeing it in
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Speaker 2: the Tristate area. And what we don't need to be
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Speaker 2: doing is going backwards. The answer to the why is simple.
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Speaker 2: We have to start holding these these these juveniles accountable.
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Speaker 2: These are these are not kids that are egg in
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Speaker 2: cars and toilet paper in houses rights commit violent crimes.
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Speaker 1: Yeah. No, I guess my question of why is what
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Speaker 1: the hell is the motivation behind Senator Paula Hicks, who's
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Speaker 1: a Democrat out of Toledo and Senator Nathan Manning, a
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Speaker 1: publican out of north Ridgeville, for sponsoring this and bringing
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Speaker 1: up at the first place, because it's widely described as
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Speaker 1: a bipartisan effort, and I kind of scratch my head
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Speaker 1: over that, because I think the vast majority of my
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Speaker 1: listening audience shares exactly what the way you feel about this, Scott.
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Speaker 1: We need to be tougher on juvenile crime. They need
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Speaker 1: to have that big giant red flag of their will
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Speaker 1: be consequences if you commit crimes and here's what's gonna happen,
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Speaker 1: You're gonna get locked up. I mean, that is the
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Speaker 1: deterrent element of the criminal justice system. Scott.
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know what some of these politicians are thinking.
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Speaker 2: I can tell you this. I don't know if they've
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Speaker 2: consulted anyone who's actually got boots on the ground. And
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Speaker 2: that's probably one of the most frustrating parts about a
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Speaker 2: lot of these bills that we see being pushed down
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Speaker 2: from columbuses. Where who are they talking to when they're
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Speaker 2: coming up with these ideas, Because if they talk to
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Speaker 2: the if they talk to the locals, if they talk
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Speaker 2: to the police chiefs, the sheriff, the prosecutors in these counties,
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Speaker 2: they're going to find that we are to your point.
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Speaker 2: So we need to go to the complete opposite direction
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Speaker 2: of this and hold these guys and guys accountable.
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Speaker 1: Well, let's focus on the issue. For example, stealing cars,
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Speaker 1: isn't that grand theft? Auto Scott, I mean that what
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Speaker 1: they used to call it?
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Speaker 2: Correct? Okay, that's right, that's right.
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Speaker 1: Well, you cite a specific illustration from Warren County where
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Speaker 1: you are twenty twenty five, just recently traveling Juno. This
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Speaker 1: is organized crime. Let my listeners know about this particular
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Speaker 1: circumstance which you cited on your post.
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Speaker 2: Yeah. Sure. So over the last several years, we've had
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Speaker 2: an influx of juveniles coming into places like Warren County.
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Speaker 2: Most of them are coming in from Cincinnati or they're
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Speaker 2: coming down from Dayton, and they're coming down in groups
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Speaker 2: and I know the same group as even targeted Northern Kentucky,
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Speaker 2: specifically Boom County. And they're coming down in groups in
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Speaker 2: stolar vehicles and they're basically canvassing neighborhoods and they're walking
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Speaker 2: through these neighborhoods in the overnight hours when they should
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Speaker 2: be sleeping lady for school the next day, and for
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Speaker 2: unlocked cars, and they're breaking in the cars and they're
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Speaker 2: grabbing anything they can of value and if the keys
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Speaker 2: are in the car, they're stealing these cars. And I'm
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Speaker 2: being told that there are adults that are behind organized
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Speaker 2: groups because the adults know that the kids will not
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Speaker 2: get in trouble if they're cut and they are one
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Speaker 2: hundred percent correct. These kids are not being held accountable.
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Speaker 2: It's so bad, Brian, your listeners need to know this.
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Speaker 2: Somebody reached out to me after that post and said,
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Speaker 2: the best job in government is working in juvenile detention centers.
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Speaker 2: And it's simple because there's no one there. Right. We
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Speaker 2: take these kids to juvenile detention centers across this state,
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Speaker 2: and the minute that they walk in the door, they're
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Speaker 2: on the phone with a parent or a guardian telling
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Speaker 2: them to come pick them up because they don't hold them. Well,
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Speaker 2: there's no consequence. If you know you're going to get
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Speaker 2: right back out, then what's the return to go out
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Speaker 2: and stop committing crimes?
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Speaker 1: Right and chief that's under the current law. With this
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Speaker 1: particular bill, Center Bill two seventy will make even weaker.
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Speaker 2: That's right, that's right, We're over. They are ready dismissed charges,
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Speaker 2: even serious ones. We've seen gun charge. We had a
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Speaker 2: case in Warren County where a judge under rule nine
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Speaker 2: dismissed a gun charge on a kid because he didn't
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Speaker 2: want to commit him the dys and wait for it,
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Speaker 2: Guess what happens. He ends up using a gun and
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Speaker 2: getting in recommitting. There's zero consequences for these kids actions.
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Speaker 1: Oh my, well, you know you talked about organized crime, sir.
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Speaker 1: I mean juveniles are not protected as juveniles from being
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Speaker 1: charged with Rico. You got more that you have organized
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Speaker 1: criminal activity even though they're fourteen years old. They are
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Speaker 1: out there at the best that somebody else. We're working
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Speaker 1: together with other cohorts. Any coordinated effort to commit crimes
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Speaker 1: that is right in Rico's wheelhouse, isn't it?
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Speaker 2: One hundred percent? Absolutely, You're spot on. If if we
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Speaker 2: were able to charge these serious offenders, and again, these
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Speaker 2: aren't kids stealing candy bars from speedway. These are serious
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Speaker 2: offenders who know what they're doing. If we were able
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Speaker 2: to hold these young men and women to the same
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Speaker 2: standards that we can to your point, federally, we could
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Speaker 2: put a dent in this. But until we have meaningful change,
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Speaker 2: not things like Centerpill two seventy, Until we have meaningful
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Speaker 2: change for people who want to make a difference. Unfortunately,
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Speaker 2: we're just going to continue kicking this can down the road,
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Speaker 2: and we're going to have more victims. I just saw
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Speaker 2: I think last night. I saw in the news this
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Speaker 2: morning we have what two kids shot? Yes in Cincinnati
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Speaker 2: again juvenile. Yeah, yeah, I pointed out in my article
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Speaker 2: or excuse me on my Facebook post. Let's not forget that.
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Speaker 2: In September at two thousand, Officer Kevin Crayon from the
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Speaker 2: Cincinnati Department was murdered murdered by a twelve year old
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Speaker 2: kid twelve or thirteen driving a stolen vehicle. Kevin kran
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Speaker 2: reached in that car, tried to take the keys out ignition,
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Speaker 2: the kid take took off and caused Kevin to be
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Speaker 2: drugged to his death. And you know he got hit
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Speaker 2: by car. Come the other way, that kid under kinable
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Speaker 2: two seventy. If that's not classified as a violent crime,
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Speaker 2: he's not doing he's not doing d ys time. And
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Speaker 2: that's ridiculous. That's ridiculous.
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Speaker 1: Wow. Well, I suppose in a perfect world, Chief Scott
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Speaker 1: Hughes with the Hamilton Township Police, what else in the
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Speaker 1: I mean, obviously, this to me and to you is
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Speaker 1: the wrong way to go. Softening the consequences for crime
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Speaker 1: is not good. We want to make the crime, will
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Speaker 1: make it harder and more difficult. On I'm wanting to
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Speaker 1: get caught for committing these hainous crimes. What else is
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Speaker 1: wrong with the system with juveniles? I mean, you mentioned
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Speaker 1: the fact that these juvenile detention centers are just empty shells.
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Speaker 1: Is that something that if you had to suggest or reform,
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Speaker 1: Is there something we can do to make them, you know,
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Speaker 1: worthwhile an actually legitimate part of the criminal justice system.
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Speaker 1: I mean, I'm I'm at a loss to how this
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Speaker 1: all has just sort of fallen apart over the year.
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Speaker 2: Scott, Well, I think, I think, I think that the
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Speaker 2: facilities are empty, not because the kids stopped committing crimes, right,
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Speaker 2: the court stopped sitting them. And you know, we talk
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Speaker 2: all about rehabilitation. We want to rehabilitate people, and listen,
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Speaker 2: I'll be the first to tell you if someone can
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Speaker 2: be rehabilitated and turned into productive citizen, sign me up. Right,
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Speaker 2: But account but accountability comes first. Right. Your first felamy
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Speaker 2: should be a wake up call, not a free pass.
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Speaker 2: If you're out there committing felonies, you have already been
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Speaker 2: promoted to the higher level. So we've got the tools
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Speaker 2: in place, fill the detention beds, stop dismissing serious cases,
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Speaker 2: and start sending the message from the judges that crimes
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Speaker 2: have consequences. You know, I'm I'm being told too after
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Speaker 2: that post. Excuse me that that some of the schools
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Speaker 2: are being told when they've got these kids committing committing
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Speaker 2: violations inside schools, to stop filing charges because the courts
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Speaker 2: aren't going to do anything to them. That's insane, It's
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Speaker 2: absolutely insane.
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Speaker 1: Chief Hughes, I think you really have kind of got
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Speaker 1: to the point of the problem here. It's not necessarily
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Speaker 1: the prosecutor's office and what prosecutors, although you're comment about
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Speaker 1: them dismissing these serious cases does suggest that. But maybe
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Speaker 1: they're being dismissed because they know on the tail end,
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Speaker 1: when they're finally in front of a judge, the judge
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Speaker 1: is going to treat them leniently and not and and
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Speaker 1: and not sentence them either to a juvenile detention center
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Speaker 1: or what there's going to be no consequences because the
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Speaker 1: judge is light on or soft on crime. So we
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Speaker 1: have a judicial problem. I guess primarily I.
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Speaker 2: Would agree one percent votes matter, right, they will pay
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Speaker 2: attention when they go those when they go to that
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Speaker 2: ballot box who they're voting for, and pay attention to
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Speaker 2: what they stand for, look at their record, and look
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Speaker 2: at what they support and what and what they don't support.
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Speaker 2: And uh, that's that's certainly the step in the right
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Speaker 2: direction we need to be taken.
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Speaker 1: It is. And in terms of elected officials, these some people,
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Speaker 1: some elected officials like well these two Senator Hudson and
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Speaker 1: Nathan Senator Manning Republican Democrat one e each maybe pick
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Speaker 1: better elected officials when we're at the ballot box as well.
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Speaker 2: Well. Absolutely, when these detention centers are sitting empty, but
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Speaker 2: we're still facing the crimes that we're facing. Something's broken
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Speaker 2: and this Centerbill two seventy is not the answer. It's
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Speaker 2: making accountability weaker and not a recipe for success.
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Speaker 1: Oh jeez, well, chiefus, you know what. I appreciate your
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Speaker 1: willingness to go out there and point this out to
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Speaker 1: the rest of us, and maybe there is something we
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Speaker 1: can do about it. I'll encourage my listeners to contact
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Speaker 1: their elected officials and say no to centin Bill to seventy.
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Speaker 1: Chief Scott Hughes, Hamilton Township Police Department. Thank you, sir
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Speaker 1: for the work that you do. Obviously it's a challenge
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Speaker 1: these days. We all here in the Morning show have
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Speaker 1: your back and all other law enforcements back. You're doing
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Speaker 1: a great service to our communities. We truly appreciate it,
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Speaker 1: and keep up the great work and stay safe out there.
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Speaker 2: Thanks Brian, having great week. Appreciate you having me on
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Speaker 2: my pleasure.
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Speaker 1: You got any further updates or comments or issues we
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Speaker 1: want to talk about, You got an open form here
10:58
Speaker 1: on the fifty five Case Morning Show. O