Omaha leaders share youth crime trends, what more needs to be done

“We've seen a drop in the more recent years, so that's really a positive thing,” Omaha police official said.

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The Douglas County Attorney said violent youth crime is the worst he’s seen, but other Omaha leaders paint a different story.KETV Investigates the discrepancy and what needs to be done.The Omaha Police Department said in 2025, 308 juveniles were arrested for felonies.Although we’re only a third of the way through this year, OPD reports only 96 youths have been arrested, which it calls an improvement.“When we talked about the kids this year that have been arrested that are juveniles on felony charges, they’re more likely to have weapons charges and more likely to have assault charges,” David Van Dyke, OPD Deputy Director for Technical & Reporting Services Bureau, said. “So that would make sense to me that the Douglas County Attorney would see more of those.”When looking at young repeat offenders, OPD numbers show a rise from 2017 to 2023, but a decline from 2023 to 2025.“We’ve seen a drop in the more recent years, so that’s really a positive thing,” Van Dyke said. “I think some changes have been made there to try to address that.”Changes that organizations like Roscoe Wallace’s Viable Healing have worked on with teens in the Douglas County Youth Center.“We’re opening their hearts. They’re showing empathy, remorse, all those good things with each other, the violence is down,” Wallace said. “How does that travel, and how do we meet them on that other side?”READ MORE: ‘See the actual impact of their actions’: Omaha program teaches empathy to incarcerated youthWallace said in the two years his group has run their Victim Impact Empathy Program at the DCYC, violence against staff and other youth declined by 50 percent.“Last year was our lowest year on record for overall youth crime in our county,” Voices for Children’s Executive Director Juliet Summers said.She said data from the Douglas County Crime Commission showed the number of juvenile arrests in 2025 hit 146, and just under half of those involved weapons.The crime data showed a few more arrests in the year prior, with 88 arrests involving weapons.“This is a very small number of young people in our city who are engaging in behaviors that are really scary,” Summers said. “But it’s not an impossible number to deal with.”READ MORE: ‘Almost waiting a year’: Long waits for competency evaluations leave teen offenders stuckAs of Monday, there were 68 youths in DCYC, according to the county. Its vacant Youth and Family Support Center has a 64-bed capacity.“It is difficult that we are paying $20,000 a month in utilities to have a vacant facility,” Roger Garcia, Douglas County Commissioner, said. “But rushing into an extra $8 million a year to run a second facility is going to be a lot more expensive.”Wallace said around 20 to 30 percent of DCYC teens aren’t getting accepted into outside programs. He said the empty youth facility would be a great place to put them.“We’ll knock down the recidivism of kids coming back into that system,” Wallace said. “So, it’s really based on us, really, so to speak, pulling the trigger. Moving in there and moving these things into place and trusting in them.”Conversations around how to best uplift these juveniles are ongoing. Wallace said the community needs to step up for the youth when they’re out of detention or rehabilitation programs.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |

OMAHA, Neb. —

The Douglas County Attorney said violent youth crime is the worst he’s seen, but other Omaha leaders paint a different story.

KETV Investigates the discrepancy and what needs to be done.

The Omaha Police Department said in 2025, 308 juveniles were arrested for felonies.

Although we’re only a third of the way through this year, OPD reports only 96 youths have been arrested, which it calls an improvement.

“When we talked about the [96] kids this year that have been arrested that are juveniles on felony charges, they’re more likely to have weapons charges and more likely to have assault charges,” David Van Dyke, OPD Deputy Director for Technical & Reporting Services Bureau, said. “So that would make sense to me that the Douglas County Attorney would see more of those.”

When looking at young repeat offenders, OPD numbers show a rise from 2017 to 2023, but a decline from 2023 to 2025.

“We’ve seen a drop in the more recent years, so that’s really a positive thing,” Van Dyke said. “I think some changes have been made there to try to address that.”

Changes that organizations like Roscoe Wallace’s Viable Healing have worked on with teens in the Douglas County Youth Center.

“We’re opening their hearts. They’re showing empathy, remorse, all those good things with each other, the violence is down,” Wallace said. “How does that travel, and how do we meet them on that other side?”

Wallace said in the two years his group has run their Victim Impact Empathy Program at the DCYC, violence against staff and other youth declined by 50 percent.

“Last year was our lowest year on record for overall youth crime in our county,” Voices for Children’s Executive Director Juliet Summers said.

She said data from the Douglas County Crime Commission showed the number of juvenile arrests in 2025 hit 146, and just under half of those involved weapons.

The crime data showed a few more arrests in the year prior, with 88 arrests involving weapons.

“This is a very small number of young people in our city who are engaging in behaviors that are really scary,” Summers said. “But it’s not an impossible number to deal with.”

As of Monday, there were 68 youths in DCYC, according to the county. Its vacant Youth and Family Support Center has a 64-bed capacity.

“It is difficult that we are paying $20,000 a month in utilities to have a vacant facility,” Roger Garcia, Douglas County Commissioner, said. “But rushing into an extra $8 million a year to run a second facility is going to be a lot more expensive.”

Wallace said around 20 to 30 percent of DCYC teens aren’t getting accepted into outside programs. He said the empty youth facility would be a great place to put them.

“We’ll knock down the recidivism of kids coming back into that system,” Wallace said. “So, it’s really based on us, really, so to speak, pulling the trigger. Moving in there and moving these things into place and trusting in them.”

Conversations around how to best uplift these juveniles are ongoing. Wallace said the community needs to step up for the youth when they’re out of detention or rehabilitation programs.