Report: Nearly half of 16-year-olds arrested under RTA committed new crimes in NYC

A recent report by the nonprofit New York City Criminal Justice Agency found that nearly half of the 16-year-olds arrested and processed in the city under the Raise the Age law committed new crimes.

The 22-page report the CJA — formed in the 1970s to provide pretrial services to defendants prosecuted in the New York City criminal courts — found that 48% of the 16-year-olds arrested since the age law took effect in October 2018 had by January 2020 been rearrested.

The statistics are worrying some.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday repeated to state legislators in Albany his criticism, first voiced in January, that the law is allowing gangs to exploit youths to carry guns.

"It is being used as a loophole for gang members to demand young people under 18 take the fall for guns that are not theirs," Adams said in January.

Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark warned in November about problems with RTA when she said in a statement that there were unintended consequences hurting public safety, notably in the Bronx.

"The result," said Clark, "we are seeing 16- and 17-year-olds — and some even younger — with multiple gun cases that are not being held accountable when sent to Family Court. They are arrested for gun possession, released and without supervision, they graduate to a fatal shooting or they are killed by another youth with a gun."

When New York’s RTA law took effect in October 2018, proponents believed it would help 16-year-old juvenile offenders — and later 17-year-olds — by keeping them away from criminal courts and having their cases heard in the more benign, supportive atmosphere of Family Court. Supporters also hoped it would deter juvenile recidivism and felt the program would allow youths access to social services and special training instead of incarceration.

Now, some police and criminal justice officials believe RTA is helping fuel increased gun violence.

"The data is staggering," NYPD Chief of Crime Strategies Michael LiPetri told Newsday, saying the CJA findings corroborated city statistics.

LiPetri said that 53% of the 16-year-olds arrested under the age law went out and committed new crimes. Of the 1,300 juveniles age 16 who were rearrested 43%, or about 560, were for felonies, LiPetri said.

LiPetri said 10% of gun arrests in 2021 involved teens under the age of 18, compared with just 1% in 2015.

The law’s goal was to "treat kids like kids and give them a chance," said Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

The law essentially provides that an adolescent charged with a misdemeanor should have the case handled in Family Court while felonies would start out in a criminal court and then sent to Family Court if prosecutors didn’t object.

For the year prior to October 2018, 39% of 16-year-olds were rearrested, the study found. Of those rearrested more than 35% were accused of a felony and about 27% for a violent felony, according to the report.

CJA said it was limited in its ability to say why the rearrests were so high. But the agency suggested lack of resources for the young was a problem and that "the youths warrant concerted action from the NYC criminal justice and child welfare communities to address their recidivism."

The Legal Aid Society, which defends juvenile cases, criticized the report. "The study failed to provide any information about whether or when services were provided to the sixteen-year-olds," it said in a statement.

CJA executive director Aubrey Fox said the report spoke for itself and declined to comment.

Lucian Chalfen, a spokesman for state Office of Court Administration, said the court system was aware of the CJA report and its findings.

The city's Probation Department handles a small percent of the youth cases processed in Family Court under the age law. In a statement, it said the agency has built upon " an already strong continuum of programming and practices" to help 16-year-olds.

Orange County District Attorney Dave Hoovler and Albany County District Attorney David Soares, both supporters of the law, blamed a lack of resources for youths as part of the problem.

"It is one of the biggest policy failures of our time," Soares said of the lack of resources.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Orange County District Attorney Dave Hoovler's name.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.