Police and prosecutors in Minneapolis grapple with youth ‘incapable’ of committing crime

Following the shooting of four children in a stolen car less than two weeks ago, Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) Chief Brian O’Hara and Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty have been publicly going back and forth about who is to blame. 

The chief claims investigators are arresting kids for auto theft and referring them to the county attorney’s office, while Moriarty claims her office isn’t getting the referrals. The back and forth, which has been simmering for months, was sparked by a shooting on Aug. 18 when four kids between the ages of 11 and 14 were shot while riding in a stolen vehicle. 

During this exchange, O’Hara also cited a specific statute, saying the reason he couldn’t bring charges against many juveniles is due to a state law that says any individual under 14 years old is incapable of committing a crime, leaving his officers’ hands tied on juvenile crime. 

“We are failing to deter this behavior, and with that being said, we are failing these kids as well,” O’Hara said during a news conference shortly after the shooting. 

Moriarty’s office released a statement in response, calling O’Hara “inaccurate” and laying out several other ways law enforcement could refer juveniles 10 years old and older to her office, including their Youth Auto Theft Early Intervention Initiative. 

The initiative was created last year due to officers telling Moriarty’s office they knew the kids involved in thefts but didn’t have enough to charge. The initiative involves youth and their families accepting voluntary services from a social worker in an effort to prevent kids from stealing cars in the future. About 81% of juveniles who went through the initiative had no new cases submitted, but MPD has only referred four cases to her office in the second and third quarters of this year to date, according to her office. 

“This is critically important given the low clearance rate of 1.4% in 2024 for auto theft cases in Minneapolis,” Moriarty said in the statement. “Police often tell us they know who is involved but do not have the evidence to prove it.”

Rachel Moran, University of St. Thomas School of Law professor and founder of the school’s Criminal and Juvenile Defense Clinic, said while both O’Hara and Moriarty are accusing each other of inaccuracies, they’re both “not hearing exactly what the other is saying.”

“Chief O’Hara is right that these kids can’t be charged as adults … Mary Moriarty is right that there are other ways that they can be charged with delinquency offenses, and that there are ways to certainly refer the kids for charges, even if they wouldn’t be charged as adults and even if they might not be held with detention,” Moran said. “They’re both kind of at odds with each other over nuances in their language, but I think the ultimate gist of it is they don’t perceive the other as cooperating with their goal.”

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Moran said these types of exchanges happen often when a county attorney, labeled as progressive or wants to take a more rehabilitative approach, and police chief have different notions of public safety. And while they appear at odds with each other, violent crime being down overall shows each of their efforts could have merit, she said. 

“A terrible incident like what happened … is obviously going to create a lot of public attention and tension, and so words fly, but the reality is that I think to some extent, each of their approaches may be working,” she said. “Not perfectly, and this is an example of something not working, but the path forward certainly would be helpful to have them more on the same page.”

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