Commonwealth's attorney says tackling youth crime in Louisville may take different approach

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Community members voiced their concerns about kids becoming more involved in violent crime to Jefferson County's top attorney Tuesday evening.

Commonwealth's Attorney Gerina Whethers, who is also a prosecutor on youth crime, hosted a town hall that covered a wide range of issues, including youth violence in Louisville.

According to data from the Louisville Metro Police Department, more kids have become victims of violent crime this year compared to this time last year. But, the department said, the number of underage suspects has gone down this year, along with overall youth violence numbers.

Whethers said in order to make a bigger impact in reducing those numbers, it could take a different approach.

"Once they get to us, which are felonies, it is too late. All we're doing is prosecuting that case," she said. "And we may be talking about, hopefully, some parental classes, some things that we take for granted, you know. We've got drug court, we've got mental health court, veteran court, why not parent court?"

WDRB asked Whethers about felons who get out of prison early, only to commit more violent crimes. Once recent example is the case of Armond Langford, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison for burglary and robbery just last year. But he was released early on shock probation. Police said he would go on to hold a woman at knifepoint with her kids in the car, and forced her to withdrawal cash from a bank in St. Matthews.

Whethers said it's a complicated problem that will take various agencies coming together to solve.

"There's some credit time served that they receive, and now we are now in the process of—and we've been doing this for a while—trying to figure out what that looks like when the jury decides this should be happening for an offender and then all of a sudden, somebody's out," she said.

Whethers added that the most important thing the community can do is support each other and work with law enforcement.

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