By CHRIS BUTLER


SEBRING — Juvenile crime might be on the rise.

The Highlands County Sheriff’s Office is unable to provide the numbers to compare juvenile crime arrests on a year-by-year basis. The agency was able to provide statistics on a month-by-month basis, however.

Lt. Paula Weeks of the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that the Highlands County Sheriffs Office conducted 43 juvenile arrests in February of last year. But in February of this year, sheriff’s deputies oversaw the arrests of a larger number of juveniles – 51.

Weeks said those juveniles were the ones not sentenced as adults after being taken to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice in Bartow. 

The increasing numbers may reflect perceptions that juvenile crime is on the rise.

Highlands County Sheriff Susan Benton said earlier this month she didn’t have any knowledge of the latest numbers, but hasn’t personally seen any other evidence of an upswing in juvenile arrests.

“I do a weekly intelligence bulletin and don’t see anything more or less than what I’ve seen the last couple of years. I think the trends we are seeing are proportionate with the growth in population.

“You might see a larger number of referrals versus two years ago, but if you look at that to the relationship in the population increase, I don’t think you’re going to see the ratios going up,” Benton said.

She said juveniles committing serious violent crimes are far more likely to wind up in an adult court than they were five-10 years ago.

Statistics concerning juvenile arrests within the 10th Judicial Circuit counties of Highlands, Polk and Hardee were not available as of press time Friday. Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Data Integrity Officer Jay Harris was unavailable when reached for comment.

‘Gang Wannabes’

Benton said signs of juvenile gangs in the area such as graffiti signal nothing more than a pattern of “gang wannabes.”

“We encourage businesses to clean or paint over any graffiti because that tends to be a marking of territory.  So far we’ve been fortunate we haven’t yet reached that level where it’s gotten out of hand,” she said.

Highlands County Sheriff’s deputies said in January that five juvenile suspects were involved in an armed robbery at Sebring’s Dollar General Store.

One store employee told police one of the suspects pistol-whipped her twice before running away with an undetermined amount of cash.

The five suspects were eventually arrested, but not before law enforcement officers spent a substantial portion of the night tracking them down. 

All five were transported to Florida’s Department of Juvenile Justice in Bartow.

Benton said the juvenile offenders often get community service for either first offenses or less serious crimes.