Over the last several months the Texarkana area has experienced a spike in violent crime. Most of these incidents involved juvenile and young adult suspects who were committing a variety of crimes including, vehicle burglaries, theft of firearms, robberies, assaults, battery, and even murder.
On October 14th, the Texarkana Arkansas Police Department established a Juvenile Crimes Task Force to counter this crime trend. The task force was responsible for identifying and arresting anyone involved in violent crime with the priority being juvenile crime. As of this release, our juvenile task force has made 49 apprehensions, issued 21 citations, and removed 9 firearms from the street. Miller County Prosecutor Connie Mitchell has vowed that all these individuals will be prosecuted to the fullest.
The Texarkana Arkansas Police Department will continue to enforce the law and have a no tolerance stance for anyone committing a violent crime in Texarkana, Arkansas in order to protect our citizens and the children in our schools.
Youth crime is a community problem that cannot be addressed or remedied solely by law enforcement. Solutions need a collaborative effort between our schools, churches, non-profit organization, and parents to accomplish our goal of making Texarkana, Arkansas a safe place to live, work, and raise a family.
There will be a Community Forum to discuss recent crime issues and community-based solutions hosted by the Pastoral Alliance on Thursday, November 18th, at 6pm, at the Church of the Living God Temple #4, 928 Laurel Street in Texarkana, Arkansas. TAPD will be there, along with your City Manager Jay Ellington, Mayor Allan Brown, Prosecutor Connie Mitchell, and the Texarkana Arkansas School District Administrators. Residents are invited to attend and provide insight and support for this critical issue.
