THUNDER BAY - As police announce the arrest of a young person in connection to the city’s sixth homicide, police say they are concerned over the increasing number of youth involved in serious offences in the city.
On Thursday, a 16-year-old Toronto boy appeared in Thunder Bay Law courts and was charged with second-degree murder and drug trafficking offences in connection to an incident last weekend that left a B.C. man dead at a notorious city motel known to attract drug dealers.
Detective-Inspector John Fennell of the Thunder Bay Police Service said crime trends involving youth have been “extremely concerning” for police.
“These people are coming from 16 hours away from Toronto and these youths are independently working on their own,” he said. “It’s a great concern.”
But it's not just drug traffickers from the GTA police are concerned about. Police are also dealing with an investigation involving a local teen girl who was arrested in May and is accused of killing another 14-year-old girl.
Although the motives behind each offence are different in every case, police note the level of violence in crimes involving young people is alarming.
Last month, four GTA-area teenagers were arrested alongside three men after police received reports of an Ambrose Street residence that had been taken over by a group of drug traffickers. All of the youth range in ages from 15 to 17.
“How is it these young people have this much freedom that they are being able to do this,” Fennell said. “Unfortunately I am able to understand why because the money is such a draw to them…however somebody’s parents and caregivers must care where they are.”
Fennell explained in some cases, adults will use young people to work for them due to the fact sentencing for a young person is much less compared to an adult.
"If they take the hit for the charge they will serve significantly less time than an adult would for a similar offence,” he said.
Although police say they have noticed an increase in youth involved in serious crimes, it isn’t substantially different compared to adults committing offences.
Previously, police have stated their concern surrounding how quickly organized criminal groups in the city are able to replace an individual once they are arrested and believe youth are potentially being targeted to replace those in jail.
“Whoever can make the money is going to be there to make the money and I think the youth may be subjected to it,” he said. “With the work that the intelligence unit are doing and arresting all these adults, I think they may be filling them up with a lot of youth.”
