CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Juvenile crime is up 34% in Charlotte.

Police say there were over 5100 juveniles listed as suspects of a crime in 2023.

“They say 100 people have shot and killed almost us here in Charlotte last year or year before last or whatever. And you want to cut it by 10%. That’s not good enough for me,” said Darryl Sturdivant.

He and his wife Robin formed “Team-Up Connections” a mentoring group, to help decrease juvenile crime in Charlotte.

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For the last four years, they’ve been working with at-risk youth, partnering with Mecklenburg County and the North Carolina Department of Public Safety.

With juvenile crime rising in the area, the group is working harder than ever to get kids off the streets.

“We want to cut it down at least 90%. We want to make it 0%,” he said.

But they don’t use the term “at-risk”. They call the youth misguided.

“At risk means something to explode, right then right there. We don’t look at these kids like that. We look at these kids as someone who needs help to be guarded in life,” he said.

The group has several volunteer mentors to work with 3-6 young people at a time, ranging between 12-17 years old every day. But mentors also work with kids 10 and under—the Sturdivants call that ‘a vulnerable age’.

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“And we also have, because of ‘Raise the Age’ we can do 18 and over,” she said.

CMPD reports there were 414 juvenile violent crime suspects in 2023. Just this week, two more juveniles were arrested for murder.

“Those are kids that we work with and our goal is to divert behaviors and help them to understand how to make better choices,” she said.

The Sturdivants say the only way to make a significant change in juvenile crime is to change their hearts.

“Kids change only when their hearts change. You can get a kid to cooperate and be disciplined. They do well for a week or month or two unless they change their heart, they not going to be able to continue to make that change,” he said.

The group holds several events during the month to keep kids engaged and off the streets.

“We don’t call it a program. We call it a family,” he said.

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