Joint efforts to combat youth auto thefts in Minnesota.

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty has announced a new collaborative effort aimed at slowing the wave of vehicle thefts by youth. The initiative will involve regular meetings between prosecutors and law enforcement in the county to identify “at-risk” teens and pre-teens, so that social workers can then contact those kids’ family members, identify issues they’re facing and connect them to services to help. Additionally, Moriarty says her office will speed up its charging decisions in auto theft cases later this month. Finally, Hennepin County courts will start requiring judges to review detention decisions for kids charged with fleeing police.