Summer break sparks questions about how Tampa Bay will address teen takeovers

With kids out of school for summer break, there are concerns about what measures are in place to prevent teen takeovers from continuing.

Following several teen takeovers across Tampa Bay, people in the community are now saying there needs to be more funding resources. They’re also emphasizing the importance of community conversations to address underlying issues.

Tampa City Councilwoman Naya Young said one way to prevent teen takeovers is to create more jobs for teens.

“I’m looking forward to us having even more opportunities for us to employ our teens because one thing I know is a lot of the teens they’re really just looking for jobs because they want to make some money or they’re looking for other things to do,” Tampa City Councilwoman Young said.

“If you think about Tampa, if you think about Clearwater Beach, you think about where St. Pete is; we’re right in the neck of the woods where everything is happening,” Lewis Stephens Jr., St. Pete community advocate, said.

Stephens said the city should take a proactive approach to preventing similar incidents.

“We have to be able to give money to create an effective change here inside of our community. We have to be able to give the support to those hands that already have their hands on young people inside the community,” Stephens Jr. said.

“We just can’t expect government to solve this problem with a program,” St. Pete mayor Ken Welch said.

St. Pete Mayor Welch said the solution starts at home.

“We have a number of programs in place that we will continue to fund, but beyond that it’s going to take families being involved, parents being involved and community,” Welch said.

“We have to create a roundtable. We have to come together as a whole. All of the programs have to come together as a whole, all of our city officials have to come together as a whole, and that’s how we will bring effective change,” Stephens said.

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