Police chief concerned about growing number of crimes involving juveniles

PEORIA, Ill. – Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria is concerned about the recent wave of crime in the area — especially, the fact that the city is now up to 22 homicides.

But, the chief tells WMBD’s Craig Collins, just as concerning, is that a lot of the crime that’s been reported lately has involved juveniles.

Case in point, juveniles stealing vehicles.

“They are causing chaos. That is absolutely all it is,” said Echevarria. “When we get behind a vehicle and it comes up with a stolen plate, they want to take off from the police. We have to be very careful when we pursue a vehicle and when we don’t. There’s some policies in place.”

Policies, Echevarria says, that dictate when a police pursuit is warranted.

A stolen vehicle a juvenile was arrested for Tuesday morning had allegedly been used in a shooting the night before.

“They’re not taking the cars and selling them. They’re not taking the cars and chopping them up. They’re driving around just to cause chaos,” said Echevarria. “At some point…we’ll find the vehicle in an alley somewhere.”

Echevarria says police officers, by and large, know what they’re dealing with and are empowered to do the right thing, especially when it comes to juvenile crime. He says his force is, in his words, some of the best officers he’s ever seen, if not the best.