Columbus City Council and other groups are considering several options to deal with juvenile crime in the city.
Officials say that while overall crime trends are down, juvenile crime numbers are increasing.
Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin said city leaders need to learn from best practices and take stock of the assets in the community.
"No option is off the table. Maybe we need parental responsibility laws that holds families accountable for their kids and their actions. Or maybe we need a curfew in effect this summer. Or we need the CPD to start its juvenile unit to help us enforce truancy," Hardin said, referring to the Columbus Division of Police.
Columbus City Council held a hearing to discuss the ideas on Thursday. Columbus Division of Police's First Assistant Chief LaShanna Potts said that in 2025, the city saw a low number of homicides, 84, which is the lowest in more than a decade.
But Potts also said there is something troubling in the data.
"Columbus has seen a significant decline in overall violent crime. However, our juvenile crime continues to increase. Nearly half of our homicide and felonious assaults suspects are 21 and under," Potts said.
Potts said 28 percent of homicide suspects and 32 percent of homicide victims in 2025 were 21 and under.
"The bottom line is that crime is broad, but the intensity of our youth involvement in violence remain a critical challenge," Potts said.
Potts said many youth deal with abuse at home and have mental health issues which affects how they behave.
"We have to get to the root cause of why our young people are picking up guns, why are they committing murders and violence in our city and this is the root cause of that. It is home life. It is how they are participating in school. It is the judicial system. It is the ineffectiveness of ... mental health providers." Potts said.
Columbus City Councilmember Tiara Ross also said a number of factors contribute to students' ability to feel safe and supported, including mental health, school culture and home environments.
