Valley law enforcement officials encourage reporting violent videos following youth attacks

By Mark Carlisle
Mail | X: @mwcarlisle

Maricopa County and law enforcement agencies believe social media is playing a role in recent high-profile acts of violence around the region committed by youth.

Collaborating with police departments across the Valley, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell announced a “Report, Don’t Repost” campaign on Wednesday to encourage teens, parents and others to report videos of teen violence to their local police.

“Teens will often record themselves and their peers in fights, brawls or doing other things they shouldn’t be doing,” Mitchell said at a news conference Wednesday.

These videos often go viral on social media, Mitchell said, but the incident will go unreported to law enforcement.

Even if thousands have seen the video, to prosecute, law enforcement officials will need corroboration from the person filming, a witness, victim or suspect that the video accurately depicts the events.

“To put it simply, if these acts don’t get reported to the police, we won’t have a case to prosecute,” Mitchell said.

Despite crime trending downward overall, juvenile crime is rising both locally and nationally, Mitchell said.

Violent crime involving juveniles in Maricopa County showed sharp, year-to-year increases in 2023. Submittals for first-degree murder involving juveniles increased from six in 2022 to 27 in 2023, a 350% increase, and submittals for aggravated assault involving juveniles increased from 12 to 25 from 2022 to 2023, a 108% jump. Total referrals of juveniles charged as adults rose 32% from 2022 to 2023.

Mitchell called these numbers “alarming.” When asked for data from years prior to 2022, a spokesperson from the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said they do not have those numbers readily available but would share them when they are gathered.

The “Report, Don’t Repost” campaign will involve posters, public service announcements and social media hashtags, Mitchell said. She also said it was only one step in county officials’ plans to curb teen violence, along with outreach efforts to teens and schools that are already ongoing.

Mitchell was joined by police chiefs from around the Valley at the news conference, as well as the Maricopa County sheriff.

“The chiefs and sheriff that are joining me today can attest to you as well that this is happening in their cities,” she said.

Queen Creek Police Chief Randy Brice said the suspects in such videos recently are not concealing their identities.

“They want the notoriety… They want to be seen,” Brice said.

Queen Creek was home to the high-profile killing of 16-year-old Preston Lord, who was assaulted at a Halloween house party last year.

Brice said the incidences aren’t necessarily being shouted to the entire world. They might be shared on private social media channels.

Iit is particularly important for any teen seeing illegal activity this way to report it because law enforcement obviously cannot see those private messages, Brice said.

Those reporting incidences have the option to stay anonymous, Mitchell said. Though law enforcement officials hope they will share as much information as possible, any information – who the people are in the video, the location, the context – is a helpful start, Mitchell said.

Gilbert Police Chief Michael Soelberg said when videos are shared publicly, it is important they are reported early or else it “spreads like wildfire” and it may become unclear if it is a video of an incident from the Valley or from elsewhere in the country. If reported early, chances are high it occurred somewhere near the person who saw it, Soelberg said.

Gilbert is home to teens dubbed the “Gilbert Goons” who have been classified as a street gang. Seven of them are suspects in Lord’s killing awaiting trial. Others have been charged in violent crimes in Gilbert as well as an incident in San Tan Valley.

While it is most helpful to receive a report from someone with direct knowledge of the incident in a video, any reporting to local law enforcement is helpful. From there, they will investigate to see what they can learn and which jurisdiction the incident occurred in.

Agencies will pass along information if they discover a reported video is in another Valley city or town.

“We hand it off to them, and they take it from there,” Soelberg said.

Determining where a video took place can often involve looking at the background details, Soelberg said, such as any visible landmarks or street signs, especially as Valley cities often have unique colors or designs to their streets signs.

In past investigations, police looked to the type of clothes the subjects were wearing – such as shorts or sweatshirts – to help narrow down what time of year the video might have been taken, Soelberg said.

When a video does go viral, Brice said people are vigilant to report it to police. In the past, he said, they have received about a dozen calls about a video before the department put out a statement to let the public know they were aware of it and are investigating.

We’d like to invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Mark Carlisle can be reached at mcarlisle@iniusa.org.

Mark Carlisle
Associate Editor | Phoenix

mcarlisle@iniusa.org

Meet Mark

Mark Carlisle joined Independent Newsmedia, Inc., USA, in 2017, covering Glendale. He has since moved to the Daily Independent team, primarily covering the city of Phoenix along with other topics affecting the Valley at-large.

Community: Mark enjoys taking his young son to BabyTime at the Phoenix Public Library, to the OdySea Aquarium and to various sporting events around the Valley.

Education: Chapman University with a BA in English Journalism and one in Screenwriting.

Random Fact: Mark worked at a tuxedo shop in college. Just don’t ask him to tie a bowtie.

 

Hobbies: Spending time with his wife, son and dog, watching sports and TV shows, listening to audiobooks and occasionally writing fiction or designing a board game.