On Monday, Baltimore Police released information about arrests that were made in an armed robbery case on Lombard and Light Streets on Sept. 19. BPD said one of the suspects was a 14-year-old. They said the 14-year-old was taken to Juvenile Booking to request a review for detention by the Department of Juvenile Services, but he was subsequently released to his guardians.

In another instance, Baltimore Police arrested several juveniles accused of robbing someone on Guilford Ave. The suspects were between 12 and 15 years old. Officers transported the suspects to Juvenile Booking to request a review for detention by the Department of Juvenile Services. The youth were subsequently released to their guardians. One of the suspects, a 15-year-old male, was on GPS monitoring at the time of the robbery, due to a previous robbery arrest.

In Montgomery County, a 12-year-old has been caught 22 times, where he has been accused of breaking into car dealerships, as well as stealing cars and scooters. That juvenile has also been released to their parents, due to their age.

“We are really left in limbo with little to nothing that we can do,” said John McCarthy, the Montgomery County State’s Attorney.

Based on current state laws, in many cases, when juveniles are arrested, they are quickly released to their guardians by the Department of Juvenile Services.

“If you are between the ages of 10 and 12 to 13, you can only charge a juvenile with a crime of violence,” said Carroll County State’s Attorney Haven Shoemaker.

“I don’t think the juvenile law is working anywhere,” Shoemaker said.

New juvenile justice laws passed by the General Assembly are set to go into effect later this year. Several State’s Attorneys, including Shoemaker have said they are hopeful the new laws will help.

“They are going to get more input from the local Sate’s Attorneys offices,” Shoemaker said. “The longer probation terms specified under the new law will certainly help.”