Law enforcement and community groups work to reduce juvenile crime in Orange County

Orlando, Fla. — Last year more than 6,000 juveniles were arrested in Orange County. Now the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and community leaders are asking for help to keep kids and teens out of trouble.

Orange County has the highest number of juvenile arrests in the state of Florida and according to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice many of those arrests come from Pine Hills.

Though agency data show that deputies are expecting that number to go down this year,  Orange County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Angelo Nieves said it will take help.

“The struggle to help youth in the community is an ongoing one, though, so while things are improving, there is still a lot of work to do,” Nieves said.

Community outreach leaders Miles Mulrain and Emory “Zulu Dynasty” James are part of the help needed in the community. Their nonprofit organization Let Your Voice Be Heard, works to keep youth out of trouble.

“We don’t want to see these young people incarcerated and destroying their lives. Certain experiences we’ve had motivate and inspire us to get out,” James said.

However Mulrain and James said that getting the number of arrests down will also take help from the community.

“One of the biggest things to have is more involvement from other groups, more involvement from neighbors and residents,” Mulrain said. “The more hands on deck, the more we can all do.”

Mulrain said with a little help each person can make a positive change.

“It’s up to us to make it happen, and that’s just to show that you don’t need to have everything you think to make a change,” Mulrain said.