WRAL News brought together law enforcement and community leaders on Wednesday for an open discussion about youth violence, what’s driving it and what we can do as a community to break the cycle.
Raleigh Police Chief Rico Boyce and Wake County Sheriff Willie Rowe were among who took part in the one-hour discussion.
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Boyce said he proposed the idea of a town hall about a month after a series of violent incidents tied to a group of young people on July 4 that started at the Brier Creek shopping center, moved to Glenwood South and eventually ended at a gas station on Capital Boulevard.
Boyce said his greatest fear in that moment was that the violence was going to continue and someone would lose their life.
"As police chief, my job is to make sure I'm doing all I can to protect this community," Boyce said. "No matter what age you are or where you live, I want some intervention."
Boyce said he feels that children and young people generally respect law enforcement, but there are issues reaching "a few." He said he wants to find issues to help bridge that gap.
"That's a challenge for us, and that's what we want to find solutions to bridge that gap and improve that relationship with the juveniles who say 'I don't talk to the police,'" Boyce said.
Nancy Petty, a pastor at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, described it as a "moral crisis" and said law enforcement and community leaders need to approach it that way.
"We need to see this as a public health crisis. What do we do when we see a mental health crisis? We have to be committed to it," Petty said.
'What other options are out there?'
Among the topics to help discuss how to curb youth violence in Raleigh was implementing a youth curfew. Boyce said he's open to solutions that don't include a curfew and that it should be a tool rather than the only option.
"That's what I'm looking at as chief. What other options are out there that address the kids are out late at night committing these crimes?" Boyce said. "Because they're not going to the programs; they're not going to the camps."
Raleigh city leaders are considering a drafted ordinance that would restrict people under 18 from public spaces between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Omari Dunn, a freshman at Cary Academy, said after the program that he thinks it's easy to go too far with restrictions.
"I think it can help to a certain extent but it gets to a point where its kind of counter intuitive. It feels like you're being restricted and not call kids want that," said Dunn.
Rowe said that while his deputies would be ready to enforce a curfew in Raleigh with police officers if one took place, he agreed that there needs to be more opportunity, not rules.
"We're always looking forward. There comes a time when safeguards are put in place," Rowe said. "However, we don't need more rules; we need more opportunities to work together, and that's what we're working on."
Lorin Freeman, the Wake County District Attorney, said that the curfew would allow leaders and authorities to make sure parents are keeping their children safe.
"We need to look at a curfew not only as a tool of enforcement, but also as a tool of protection," Freeman said.
'Nobody has heard them'
WRAL also talked with young people and community leaders about the violence they’re seeing and what they believe could make a difference. North Carolina Central University men’s basketball coach LeVelle Moton said part of addressing the problem starts with adults listening to young people.
“Even though we know what it’s like to be teenagers or teens, we don’t know what it’s like to be them,” Moton said. “And so they have certain needs and wants and necessities that, you know, it’s been an outcry. Nobody has heard them.”
David Weiland, a ninth-grader at Cleveland High School in Johnston County, suggested a few questions that adults should ask that they don't already.
"Maybe, what do you guys plan on doing tonight? Do you plan on going out with your friends on Friday and Saturday nights when you don't have school the next day?" Weiland said.
Dunn, a teenager himself, said parents should check in on their children in the age of social media because it's a place to compare themselves to their peers.
Graham Witherspoon, a principal at Cathedral School in Raleigh and a former Raleigh police officer,, said one thing parents can do is to "listen without the intent of having an answer."
"Adults, we do a great job of saying, ' Somebody's talking to us; oh, we have to have a solution," Witherspoon said. "My experiences in law enforcement gave me that perspective of letting them have that moment. They just need a space where they can talk, and freely talk to you."
Teenagers are also sharing their own ideas about what could help. One teen WRAL spoke with said giving kids positive ways to spend their time could make a difference.
“I think it’s important to help out with the community to get everybody active so that people have something to do over the summer and over Friday nights.”
'Connect with our Youth'
Expanding youth programming beyond sports like STEM or crafting classes, and perhaps offering adult-free meeting spaces where teens can gather, are ideas the council discussed in a work session August 18, 2026. Council heard from Parks leaders who admitted they could do a better job of using social media to promote the programs they have in place.
Chief Boyce shared that Raleigh Police plans to expand it's popular Hoops Night.
"Were looking at bowling is what we’re focusing on now. Think that’ll be a great opportunity to connect with our youth doing something other than basketball," Boyce shared on WRAL's special.
It was welcome news to Weiland.
"When [the] chief said bowling, that clicked. Because I know a lot of people love bowling. It's inside, you're not going to be cold or hot. So that's a good program," Weiland said.
He also suggested other sports like soccer, flag football and dancing as options to expand the city's programming.
Dunn agreed it should be a community responsibility to provide programming for teens.
"Anything that can help us collaborate and make our ideas come to life," Dunn said.