"It breaks my heart:" 12-year-old arrested for robbery; what can be done to keep kids out of trouble?

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- A whole bunch of suspects are in jail -- picked up by Milwaukee police in recent days following a series of armed robberies. The story here may not be the crimes, but the ages of some of the suspects picked up by police. One isn't even a teenager yet! So what can be done to keep these young kids off the streets and out of trouble?

There were few indicators of crime Monday afternoon, April 27th near 57th and Keefe, but still, Chad Frost was in the neighborhood to check on his mother.

"See how she`s doing. It`s sad we have to do that because the area is a pretty decent area," Frost said.

Milwaukee police say Sunday morning around 10:00 a.m., a group of four suspects attempted to force a woman out of her car at gunpoint. The woman stayed in her car, and the suspects fled. Police quickly arrested all four of them. One, a 12-year-old boy, was armed with a BB gun, police say.

"It`s very troubling and very concerning. It should be for all of us. As a matter of fact, in that group, there was an adult - a 24-year-old - so my question is: where`s the moral compass of this 24-year-old?" Milwaukee Police Captain Jutiki Jackson said.

The incident at 57 and Keefe is one of at least seven armed or attempted armed robberies to occur at six different locations over the weekend. In those cases, police say they've arrested 10 people -- eight 18 or younger. The two youngest suspects are 12 and 13 years old.

The Daniels-Mardak Boys & Girls Club is about 10 blocks from where one of the robberies occurred. The club offers specific programs meant to keep teens from giving into temptation.

"It breaks my heart. And one of the things I think about is did they have somewhere to go? I think about what`s going on with them, what shifted them into that space to make a poor decision like that?" Tamara Key with the Boys & Girls Club said.

"I have a nine-year-old and an 18-year-old, so just knowing that`s three years older than my nine-year-old is a little disconcerting," Frost said.

Captain Jackson says police have been to the home where the 12-year-old suspect lives. He says officers wanted to meet with the child's family -- something he says MPD does whenever officers arrest someone so young.

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