PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — After another weekend of deadly violence involving teens in the Tampa Bay Area, The St. Petersburg Police Department is working with the city to come up with ways to curb teen crime and violence.
"If you can get the parents involved in these or at least get some of the law enforcement to address some of these issues before they manifest, before they continue on," said St. Petersburg Assistant Chief, Michael Kovascev.
Sidney Lim is a mother of two teenagers and said there's a big need for programs to keep kids and teens out of trouble.
"We used to say our children are our future, but I feel like we have kind of lost that...It's very important to have resources to keep them out of trouble, but it's also important for us as parents or the community to help keep encouraging them and pushing them to get involved," said Lim.
That's a big focus for the St. Petersburg Police Department.
The push comes after a recent rise in teen violence.
Investigators with the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office said over the weekend, a 14-year-old girl was shot and killed by another teen before he shot himself.
In another case, St. Pete Police said three teens are now facing felony murder charges in an armed robbery case that occurred on Saturday.
"They are going to be held accountable to that and it's going to work through, and potentially they could be spending a significant part of their early life in prison if it goes through," said Kovascev..
The St. Pete Police Department said it is now working with the city to develop new programs to curb teen violence.
Kovascev said more programs that infiltrate different communities would also help.
"We try to find the root cause, especially if there are issues between neighborhood groups," said Kovascev.
Pinellas County leaders are also allocating one million dollars to a project that residents can select, and one of the projects is youth crime prevention. It's something Lim said is critical.
"I think it's important for us to actually focus and teamwork on funding and create programs that are effective for them again," said Lim.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
