Anisha Perry, 17, belongs to America’s vilified generation – sharp turn in crime policy hits teens | Foreign countries

WASHINGTON Anisha Perry17, doesn’t see a big problem with many young people stealing cars in Washington.

– It’s a bit like ‘why do you do that’? But on the other hand, it is a way to earn money for the family. You sell that car and get at least $250. It’s food for the fridge, Perry says.

Perry is the eldest of his siblings and has acted as his single mother’s substitute for his younger siblings since an early age. The family lives in a poor neighborhood in the wealthy capital of the United States, Washington.

In the video below, Perry talks about his situation:

In Perry’s view, car theft creates a win-win situation: the owner will likely get their car back or the money from the insurance. The teenager who stole the car is able to help his family.

Perry himself has never stolen, but he knows what it feels like to be responsible for a family’s livelihood.

Perry’s mother was addicted to drugs for a long time and could not take care of her children. Perry was responsible for his two little siblings from an early age.

Now the mother no longer uses drugs, but is unemployed. Perry has been trying to get a job, but it’s been difficult because he’s so young and doesn’t have a car.

– So what other options do we really have, other than to sell or steal or something?

It was Perry’s age group that became Washington’s hottest talking point and biggest pain point last year.

Violent crime in the city exploded, by 39 percent. The number of robberies increased by 67 percent. The number of car thefts almost doubled.

Attention was especially focused on teenagers. For example, the average age of those arrested for car theft was 15 years.

The townspeople, activists and decision-makers all agree that the situation needs to be resolved. But how, that’s up for debate.

In this video, correspondent Iida Tikka opens up about what all changed in a short time:

In March, the city council presented its solution: a new criminal law. It stiffens the sentences for many crimes, increases pretrial detention periods and gives the police new powers.

Washington is completely controlled by the Democrats and traditionally the leading stars of progressive politics. City dwellers have signs in their yards demanding an end to police violence and racism.

The new criminal law was therefore a historic change for Washington, but it connected the city to a nationwide trend.

Several states and cities rushed to revise their criminal laws and banned police from using, for example, chokeholds. The most progressive corners of the country took both the authority of the police and the budgets of the police departments in their teeth.

Washington also quickly reformed its criminal law. For example, the city prohibited the police from using chokeholds or searching a suspect without his consent or a search warrant.

But then something happened. The number of murders increased significantly in 2021, both in the United States and worldwide. The tensions caused by the lockdowns during the pandemic and the financial crisis were considered to be an explanatory factor.

Elected politicians pushed through criminal laws that, for example, lengthened criminal sentences and expanded the powers of the police. So too in Washington.

Those who work with young people in Washington Samantha Davis and Nooo Taylor are horrified at how quickly politics changed.

Davis is particularly concerned about the kind of language used about black youth.

– As if we were in the 1990s: black youths are “bad”, “criminals”, “superbeasts”, Davis explains.

The term “superbeast” started in the mid-1990s from an article published in an old magazine. It argued that certain poor, dark-skinned youth are irrevocably ruined.

The panic that followed the article led dozens of states to increase the penalties for juveniles. The changes in the law therefore hit roughly the age group whose own children are now teenagers.

– We all want security. But we fear that the changes in the law are not even a band-aid solution, but merely create imaginary security, says Davis.

NeeNee Taylor fears that the changes to the law will usher in a new era of mass incarceration, when prison is seen as the only solution.

According to him, the timing of the legal reforms is altogether wrong. Taylor claims that crime is actually going down, and he’s partly right.

According to the FBI’s national crime statistics, the number of crimes and violence has been declining across the country for years. The number of murders has also declined following the pandemic.

At the same time, however, another crime statistic has shown a significant increase in the number of crimes. This second statistic also measures violence that is not reported to the police.

The differences in the statistics have attracted the attention of researchers. Attempts have been made to explain the difference by the fact that crime will probably be reported to the police even less after 2020.

It has been estimated that the difference is partly due to distrust in the police. Partly due to the fact that the police do not necessarily arrive even if they are called.

For example, Washington has been plagued by a constant lack of police officers. The vast majority of crimes remain unsolved. The number of arrests decreased significantly during 2022, and especially in those areas where violent crime increased.

So it was the residents of places like Perry’s home areas who were left to rely on their own luck.

Washington is one of the richest cities in the United States, with tens of thousands of millionaires living in its immediate vicinity. Their number has increased by up to 75 percent in ten years.

But in Perry’s home turf, a different reality prevails. A third of the residents there and as many as two thirds of the children and young people live below the poverty line.

Poverty and especially inequality have been linked to the amount of violent crime in many studies. It also leaves children and teenagers at its feet: 19 minor children and teenagers were killed in Washington last year.

A gun is increasingly involved in the disputes between teenagers. Anisha Perry is not afraid of guns, according to her “if it hits, it hits”.

According to Samantha Davis, the biggest problem for young people is housing. Rents have skyrocketed in Washington.

Many have had to move. It breaks up family support networks, and the neighbors don’t know the teenagers living on the street.

– We live in a country where we put you in jail instead of meeting your needs, he says.

Now the city’s mayor wants to punish parents who don’t send their children to school. Critics consider it impossible that many parents working at different low-paid jobs at the same time would be able to watch over their children’s schooling.

In Washington, more than half of the city’s public high school students are chronically truant.

Anisha Perry thinks schools are uncomfortable, especially after the pandemic. Perry was a junior high school student during the corona virus. When the schools opened again, he was in high school, and school had become really difficult.

There are police officers at school that Perry doesn’t trust.

– I don’t want this to sound like a scene from a movie, but the look of the police gives the feeling that they are trying to see right through you. Like a gun to the temple.

In this video, Perry explains what it’s like to encounter the police at school: