DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — Police are tracking down juvenile criminals across the state for serious crimes like armed robbery, stabbings and shooting. 

In Macon County, 59 juveniles were detained in 2023 at detention centers across the state. But sometimes, even those arrested for serious crimes, are being let out of custody.

"In a neighborhood, we arrested three juveniles for gun offenses, and none of them were able to be detained," Sgt. Toby Williams, of the Decatur Police Department's Juvenile Division, told WAND News.

It's a problem happening across the state because of limited bed space in juvenile detention facilities.

"Peoria did not have the beds, we called around throughout the state. No one either had the beds or manpower, staffing, to accommodate that. So essentially, we processed them here at headquarters and returned them to their parents or guardians," Sgt. Williams explained.

When a teen is accused of a crime, they're screened to determine if they should be held in custody or released to their parents. Any teen believed to have a gun is automatically placed in a juvenile detention facility.

"We have 5 beds currently, with Peoria County, we have a contract with them. They hold 5 beds for us," Jim Taylor, the Supervisor for Macon County Juvenile Probation Services, told WAND News.

Starting in January 2024, Peoria County will hold six beds for Macon County juveniles. But if those are full, Taylor has to find another detention facility.

"If Peoria has an extra bed available, they will allow our kids to stay there. If they do not, they contact me — or the police department contacts me, or the sheriff's department — and I start calling detention centers throughout the state to obtain a bed," Taylor explained.

Taylor stays in contact with juvenile detention centers across the state, but said things change quickly.

"There's been times where I talk to a center who says 'yeah we have 4 beds available', and 2 hours later I call and there's not a thing," Taylor added.

Sometimes, despite calling every center, there are no beds open.

"Occasionally, we haven't had luck finding a bed and we have to tell police we don't have a bed available," Taylor told WAND News.

This means teens must be released back to their parents.

"So far this year [2023], a rough estimate: probably anywhere from 5 to 8 juveniles where we did had gun offenses, whether it's shooting offenses or possession of an illegal firearm," Sgt. Williams explained.

Taylor said it's difficult to predict how many beds the county will need because crime trends change year to year.

"A couple of years ago, I would have said five beds was too many. And now it's not enough," Taylor said.

Taylor said the number of teens in custody dropped during the pandemic, but has been creeping back up each year.

Macon County sent the following number of juveniles to detention facilities:

Year# of juveniles
 2019 77
 2020 46
 2021 54
 2022 57
 2023 59

Sgt. Williams said he's seeing more serious cases come across his desk involving guns.

"Just last week, we dealt with an active shootout between juvenile groups at a local convenience store. In the store and right outside the store," Sgt. Williams explained about a case in December.

Sgt. Williams said some of teens are involved in gang activity, but many are finding other ways to get their hands on weapons.

"Some of these juveniles, their family members have been criminals throughout their lives and they kind of continue that trend," Sgt. Williams added.

He said other factors, like social media, have made violence worse.

"People are disrespecting one another on social media platforms and that does lead to some of these groups, juvenile groups, in shootouts with each other," Sgt. Williams said.

Police are now calling on parents to step up and talk to their children often about bullying and fighting.

"But the best you can do as a parent is be there, talk to your child, see what's going on. Check their social media accounts, if they have phones, check all that stuff," Sgt. Williams told WAND News.

Minors are only held in juvenile detention until their trial. If convicted, juveniles are then moved to Department of Corrections facilities. There have been no recent issues with having enough bed space at those facilities.

Sgt. Williams said 12 juveniles were victims of shootings in 2023. None died from targeted shootings, but one child died from an accidental shooting.

Copyright 2024. WAND TV. All rights reserved.