Friday, April 3, 2009 | 3:05 p.m.
Parents will be held responsible for deviant teens, a Metro police captain warned on the eve of spring break, a time when unsupervised parties can spill over into gang violence.
If parents allow children to attend a party, the should make sure a responsible person is there to keep things under control, Capt. Patrick Neville said at a press conference Friday.
"When the kids get together (with) no parents around and alcohol is free-flowing and drugs are free-flowing -- and we're finding more and more weapons showing up at these parties, as we've seen a trend in the past several years -- things get out of control," he said.
Neville said when parents don't take responsibility for their children and neighbors turn a blind eye, people can get hurt. Last year during spring break, several gang-related drive-by shootings occurred, he said. Violence tends to break out when teens are off on their own and weapons are present.
He cited a drive-by shooting in June at Bob Baskin Park, 2801 W. Oakey Blvd., that left one teen dead and another injured.
"We'd rather come out and break the party up than come out and a shooting has occurred and a bunch of people are hurt," Neville said.
Parents are responsible for their teens until they turn 18, he said. Parents have been held accountable when teens drive away from a party at their home and end up injuring or killing themselves, or someone else.
Parents need to take responsibility if they don't want to have to pick up their teens at jail, or the hospital, or, even worse, in the morgue, he said.
His recommendations:
- Ask a neighbor to keep an eye on the house when you are away
- Find out who your teen is spending time with
- If the teen is suddenly out of cash, find out what he/she is spending money on
- Monitor the amount of gas the teen has in his/her car
"The incidence of juvenile-based offenses does rise," during spring break, said Bill Cassell, Metro public information officer. "Everything from disorderly conduct, trespassing to fights."
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