OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — In November, a Douglas County District Court judge sent a case to juvenile court involving a 16-year-old shooting at police. Two years ago, the same judge did something similar involving a 17-year-old.
This angered the Omaha Police Union who says this puts their officers in danger.
Wednesday, they called for a law to be changed that would allow these teens to be supervised for much longer.
The Omaha Police Union says violent offenders can get by with little punishment because of the loophole in the current system.
The Union cites two cases where officers were shot at by minors and both of those cases were sent to juvenile court by district court judge Marlon Polk.
"It's unconscionable that these cases involving aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer can be transferred to a juvenile court with a slap on the wrist,” says Union president Anthony Conner.
The reason the Union is worried is after age 19, any supervised release would stop.
James Martin Davis, an attorney that represented a juvenile in one of the cited cases, says the whole criminal justice system is set up to treat juveniles differently.
Davis also believes the union is citing cases where police were targets and they don't have as much concern for other violent crimes concerning juveniles.
It's unclear if any state senator will take up the legislation this session.
