Rep. Fishbein, House Republicans Call for Action on Juvenile Crime Crisis

Earlier today, Rep. Fishbein joined his Republican colleagues and signed a petition calling for a special legislative session to deal with the issues of increased juvenile and personal property crime, including car theft.

In a press conference on the North steps of the State Capitol building, House Republican Leader Vin Candelora and more than 40 members of the House Republican Caucus, urged majority party Democrats to reconsider their reluctance to tackle these difficult juvenile justice matters and to consider several proposals to help end this crisis.

Among the concepts that should be considered are:

• Allowing courts to order investigations of family circumstances of repeat offenders, authorizing post-arrest detention if such juveniles are deemed to be risks to public safety;
• Eliminating the six-hour limit on detaining such juveniles without a court order;
• Requiring courts to electronically monitor juveniles charged with stealing a car while they are awaiting trial for car theft until criminal proceedings are resolved.

Within the last week the media has reported several shocking incidents of juvenile car thefts, including in Glastonbury where a woman was shot at, and in New Britain where a pedestrian was killed by an out of control underage car thief.

Enough is enough.

To watch a video of the press conference, please click below.