Nearly 200 Juveniles Have Been Arrested So Far This Year In Nashville

Metro Nashville police say juvenile crime is on the rise in the metro area. Since February 16th of this year, there have been 176 juvenile arrests.

There have been 140 felony charges and 265 misdemeanors.

Four 12-year-olds were arrested in that time period, but there were 54 arrests of 17-year-olds. Some 127 firearms were collected and 94 cars were recovered as a result of these arrests.

Also, there were 169 drug confiscations. Police collected 90.5 grams of cocaine, 168 grams of heroin and 594 grams of meth from juveniles.

Just this past weekend, a pedestrian was struck and killed in downtown Nashville by a juvenile allegedly driving a stolen car. That vehicle had just been carjacked on Peach Creek Crescent off Stewarts Ferry Pike. Police said the suspect in that case is 17. 

According to Cathy Gurley with You Have The Power, a victims advocacy group, she noticed the increase in juvenile crime a while ago.

"You look at any of this number that 30 people committed this crime," said Gurley. "Well, that crime means that there were 30 people that were affected by it, that have become a victim of that crime. It usually doesn't stop there because those people have family. So, these numbers, while staggering, if we look at the ripple affect it's far greater than the numbers on those pages."

Gurley said the police and courts have already done a lot to try to stop youth violence, now it's the community's turn to step up.

"A 12-year-old should be thinking about what's for dinner tonight and what I'm going to do on Saturday with my friends and going to the mall to shop or going to the movies or playing basketball. They shouldn't be running around stealing guns," she said.