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Questions raised after MPD Chief implies weak juvenile justice system

Posted at 7:11 PM, Jun 27, 2016
and last updated 2016-06-28 17:19:50-04

Milwaukee County's Chief Judge Maxine White has been peppered with questions after Milwaukee's Chief of Police Ed Flynn implied the city has a weak juvenile justice system, which could be attributed to a spike in carjackings.

A panel of judges went before the public safety committee to say stop the finger pointing. 

"Kids are getting picked up and this is their 2nd, 3rd, 4th offense at what stage is enough enough?," asked Alderman Mark Borkowski.

The number of arrests for carjacking and auto thefts have been going up for the past few years, but now young repeat offenders are getting arrested. Some are as young as 12 years old.

Police say surveillance video shows a 17 year old stealing her car with a baby in the backseat.

"I saw her leg with the skin was hanging off because she was hanging onto the door handle. She was being dragged along the street," Alderman Borowski said, in reference to the young mom who was carjacked on the Southside. 

He is now facing a slew of charges, but was initially released on $10,000 bail.

The public safety committee says that's not enough.

"$10,000 is a lot of money in some states. You pay dollar-for-dollar in Wisconsin. Our frustration should not drive our decision," says Milwaukee County's Chief Judge.

She adds all judges must follow rules when setting bail.

She also said the GPS monitoring system needs work, and the Milwaukee County Detention Center is over capacity.

Right now, there are only 120 beds open for juvenile offenders, and the county needs more.