Juvenile crimes were in steady decline in Madison and Dane County for many years until 2017. Since then, we have seen spikes in crimes like property theft and overall youth detention rates. Why this uptick—and what are we doing about it?

To give some context for these facts and figures and to discuss possible solutions, Carousel hosts a roundtable with Benjamin C. Gonring, manager of the Juvenile Unit at the Wisconsin Public Defender’s Office, Dane County Juvenile Court Administrator John Bauman, and Madison Police Department Assistant Chief John Patterson. They discuss the socioeconomic factors at play and offer a big-picture view of what the city is doing to help teens be law-abiding citizens in their communities.