Last week, 14-year-old Angel Mendoza was fatally stabbed in a Bronx playground by a group of teens. His 15-year-old friend Yasmin found him dying. In the days since, a 13-year-old was stabbed by a 14-year-old in Queens, and a 17-year-old shot at a rival teen in Times Square, hitting tourists.
Unfortunately, these are not anomalies. By last year, the number of youths arrested with guns had risen 136% since New York State’s “Raise the Age” legislation began to take effect in 2018. And tragically, the number of juvenile shooting victims grew 81%. Indeed, the proportion of all our city’s shooting victims who are children has approximately doubled since 2018.
Why?
Because the criminal justice process under RTA allows too many violent teens to cycle through the system, unchallenged, back to playgrounds and reckless shoot-outs with few, if any, repercussions. The law substantially increased the rate at which criminal cases for teenagers are diverted to Family Court, and in so doing, significantly decreased the likelihood of meaningful accountability for even serious crimes.
Sadly, when kids commit crimes, the victims are often other kids. This means more young lives cut short. And it incentivizes adults to put weapons in the hands of younger gang members who risk fewer consequences.
I have no doubt that “Raise the Age” was well-intentioned; but the tragic unintended consequences harm the very children our lawmakers seek to help. They must amend it.
Every day brings new proof that RTA is failing its objective of diverting vulnerable youths from their criminal trajectory. Under RTA, juvenile gun arrests have reached a quarter-century peak, with 486 arrests last year. Young felony assault victims also hit an 18-year peak of 2,451. And juvenile murder arrests have nearly quadrupled, from eight in 2017 to 30 in 2024.
All this while 2025 has broken records for the lowest number of shootings and shooting victims in the first half of the year. Our city’s safety wins are not extending to our children—and that is as unconscionable as it is preventable.
Nor has RTA achieved its stated goal of ameliorating racial disparity. In 2017, 72 Black and Hispanic youths were shot – compared to just three white victims. By last year, the number of juvenile Black and Hispanic victims skyrocketed to 114 (58% rise); white victims decreased…to zero.
That’s because, rather than actually focusing on the outcomes of each kid, RTA created a convoluted chutes-and-ladders of juvenile justice – in which authority figures operate blind. Youths now shuttle from arrest through criminal court, family court, probation, and detention without any adult in these agencies getting a full view of their journey – let alone whether a child is actually reforming his or her behavior.
RTA removed from vulnerable teen offenders the one thing they needed most: adult oversight.
Instead, they cycle pinball-style through family court and other avenues of diversion and return immediately to terrorizing younger kids. Simultaneously, social media and drill rap have grown exponentially since RTA passed. This means youths now always track each other, advertising where they are, what violence they’ve committed, and how the courts freed them yet again.
When a 15-year-old arrested for robbery has his case removed to family court and ultimately dismissed, his classmates all know he’s immediately back in school with no consequences. But the prosecutors assigned his case are blocked from knowing how it resolved. Our officers who arrested and charged him are also prohibited from finding out what happened. And tragically, even victims can’t find out.
Worst of all, when the same teen is arrested for a gunpoint robbery next month, the judge he stands before won’t be allowed to know about his previous cases. Nor will prosecutors or cops. But the young offender will be bragging about it online.
RTA rules make it very difficult to responsibly keep dangerous youths in the criminal system. According to recent New York State court data, among 16- and 17-year-old offenders, around 83% of felonies and 75% of violent felonies now roll gently over to family court, where there are limited consequences.
This thwarts one of the system’s key functions of satisfying victims. Instead, the desire for redress too often spills over into gang retribution.
And with no actual repercussions or adult authority, young offenders aren’t using repeated forgiveness for their crimes to learn mature judgment. They’re escalating to more reckless violence – perpetuating feuds to enhance their own status.
And due to social media, gang members know where their rivals are with GPS-accuracy. More than half of juvenile shootings now happen outside of shooters’ home precincts.
Compare that to NYPD officers, who are legally blocked from knowing where violent teens are. Our cops cannot even access whether an arrestee is in custody or out loose. How can we keep kids safe?
As a mother of 10- and 13-year-old boys and the Police Commissioner of the City of New York, I am certain that we must put the actual lives and safety of our children above our good intentions. New York legislators must return adult authority and oversight to juvenile justice before more kids get killed.
