Spectrum News: Police are blaming Raise the Age, a 2018 law that moved 16- and 17-year-olds out of adult court, for an increase in youth violence and victims.
“Basically, [it] created a consequence-free environment for youth in our criminal justice system,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
NYPD data shows shooting victims under 18 are up 81% when comparing the pre–Raise the Age year of 2018 to 2024. Juvenile shooters are up 92%, and gun arrests for minors are up 136% over the same time period. “The data is telling us, over the past five years, a very clear, stark story,” Tisch said.
But the New York Civil Liberties Union says the cause is not the law itself but the lack of support that was supposed to come with it.
“Only about a third of the funding that was devoted to Raise the Age has actually been distributed,” NYCLU Policy Director Bernadette Rabuy said.
Rabuy points to a tax cap that blocks the city from getting state reimbursements for programs like Bronx Legends, a youth boxing program, unless the mayor applies for a hardship waiver.
“It could be even more successful, if it were actually fully implemented,” Rabuy said.
“The kids are killing each other. My opinion of it is they’re killing each other because they’re bored,” Bronx Legends founder Jay Bulger said.
Monday was the opening day of the gym in the Bronx.
Bulger said if gyms like his had more money, fewer kids would be pulled into gangs or gun violence.
“If you’ve seen ‘The Field of Dreams,’ if you build it they will come. I’m hoping the donors will come,” Bulger said.
So far this year, the number of shooting victims under 18 is up 84% compared with the same period in 2018.
Citywide shootings overall are down roughly 19% compared with the same period in 2024.
