WARREN — Warren City Councilwoman Honeya Price, D-6th Ward, called an emergency meeting Tuesday with community leaders to address escalating youth violence, warning that summer’s approach could bring increased danger if immediate action isn’t taken.

“I called you all here because we have to be proactive before summer hits,” Price said. “We’re seeing young kids — I’m talking eighth graders — getting guns at an early age. This violence has hit my own home. We need to take charge of what’s happening in our community.”

Warren Detective Peter Goranitis described seeing a disturbing trend of youth offenders.

“Over the years, we’ve seen gun violence switch to a younger crowd. Nowadays, we’re dealing with 16-, 17-, 18-year-olds carrying guns over things you can’t even comprehend — maybe someone looked at them wrong in high school or there was a social media post,” he said.

Price talked of seeing photos of middle schoolers posing with modified weapons.

“These kids are showing off guns with switches that make them fully automatic,” she said. “They don’t understand these aren’t toys. One trigger pull could kill everyone in a house.”

Goranitis explained how firearms circulate and said a large number of guns police recover are stolen either “from burglaries” or “sold by addicts for drug money. These weapons get passed around for years,” he said.

Prevention specialists hint at another epidemic.

“Vaping is huge in all our city schools,” said Sabrina Edwards, of the Youngstown Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program. “We’re trying to build foundations so kids have the tools to say no, but we need to explain why they should refuse.”

Nikita Warfield-Owens, a behavioral health coordinator, offered a new approach in treating vaping as an addiction.

It’s an area in which she has experience.

“When we catch kids with vapes, we don’t just suspend them, we put them through courses addressing the behavior,” Warfield-Owens said. “If needed, we get them into intensive outpatient programs, just like adults.”

She warned about modern marijuana’s potency compared to in the past.

“Parents don’t realize what they smoked in the ’90s is nothing like today’s THC levels,” she said. “Even second-hand exposure affects developing brains.”

A major concern raised by Price was about suspended students left unsupervised.

“State law says once they’re suspended, they’re out of our custody,” said Julian Walker, president of the Warren City Schools Board of Education.

Price chimed in, stating, “I know mothers who have to work while their suspended kids run the streets. Back in the day, suspended students did community service. We need programs like that again.”

Several suggested stronger enforcement of curfews. But Goranitis described difficulties enforcing curfew laws.

“We’ll arrest kids after hours, then spend hours trying to locate parents,” he said. “Sometimes the kids can’t even tell us where their parents are.”

Councilman Andrew Herman, D-2nd Ward, floated ideas for legal measures.

“Some communities fine parents when their kids commit crimes,” he said. “Maybe we don’t punish them financially, but we require them to get their kids into programs — strong legal motivation to change behavior.”

Bishop Joseph Walker advocated street-level intervention.

“We’re using people with street credibility, but who’ve changed their lives,” he said. “These young men won’t listen to a preacher in a collar, but they’ll listen to someone who’s walked their path.”

The Rev. Walter Allen, who entered Alabama’s prison system at 15, stressed prevention as well.

“These kids are headed into a system that traps them for life unless we intervene now,” he said.

Pam McCoy, vice president of CrimeStoppers, proposed bringing the organization’s anonymous tip system into schools.

“It works for reporting bullying, assaults, even family issues that might lead to violence,” she said.

The discussion turned toward parental responsibility, with several participants offering blunt assessments and potential solutions.

“We’ve seen fathers actually encourage their sons to sell drugs,” McCoy said. “When that’s the example at home, what chance do these kids have?”

Vincent Baugh, a diversion specialist, explained their current system.

“We do have parenting programs, but only after they’re in the court system,’ he said. “We need to reach families before that point.”