After reading the June 6 article, “Juvenile crime on increase, police blame system for repeat offenders,” I couldn’t believe the police were blaming the system for not having teeth in it. I’m not saying the system has teeth, what I’m saying is that if the police weren’t on the teen-agers’ backs for every little thing, like sitting in parking lots talking or simply hanging out in groups, there wouldn’t be such an increase in crime.

The teens need to be treated with respect. Why do you think they don’t show you any? They are constantly being harassed by the police. Of course, they are going to question authority. Wouldn’t you, if every move you made was monitored? Yes, there are teens out there who don’t really care, and thrive on causing or getting into trouble. But did you ever stop to think that if they had some sense of freedom and more than one place to hang out without being watched, that the increase in crime could and most likely would drop?

Wherever we went or tried to go to hang out, we were told to move along or we were would be pulled over for doing petting things.

Something has to be done, but giving the system and the police more control is not the answer. They have enough as it is. Teen-agers need a place to hang out, or just a little slack. I feel that if they left the teens alone and let them hang out with each other in parking lots or wherever, as long as they aren’t causing trouble, the crime rate would drop. Of course, they’re going to get into trouble, it’s a game, a test to see how far they can push. Amanda Parker Dover-Foxcroft