Youth Violence Prevention Work Continues

On September 8, a major initiative started by the City's work on youth violence prevention will begin: the City and the public schools will launch a new youth hotline, 1-800-SPEAK-UP, where youth can report (completely confidentially, via voice or text) weapons possession or potential threats.

We're making good progress on youth violence. We've had only one youth homicide so far this year, of an infant who was killed in July and whose father has been charged in the case.

In general, juvenile violent crime arrests are showing a clear downward trend, even more substantial than the overall drop in crime. Comparing this year to 2007, we see a 30% citywide reduction in violent crime arrests while total violent crime reports for juveniles are down 37% during the same period.

See here for more information.