Data Reporter Niamh McIntyre shares this latest news as part of the OnTheWight’s collaboration with Press Association and Urbs Media. Ed
Young people on the Isle of Wight are significantly less likely to be cautioned or convicted for a first offence than they were ten years ago.
Changes in police policy and an overall fall in crime has seen an 87% drop in the number of youngsters entering the criminal justice system, according to statistics from the Ministry of Justice.
Repeat offenders not included
In the 2006/07 financial year, 290 children aged between 10 and 17 were convicted or cautioned by police for the first time, but by 2016/17 there were just 38.
The data is taken from a national police database and records a young person’s first caution or conviction, but does not include repeat offenders.
The MoJ also calculates a rate of first time offenders to allow comparison between different police forces and local authorities.
Average higher than Wales
On the Isle of Wight, police cautioned or convicted 328 children for every 100,000 in the area, higher than the England and Wales average of 312.
According to a 2016 report on first-time entrants by the Ministry of Justice, police forces have shifted their focus away from low-level crimes which are more likely to be committed by children.
The report found,
“In 2002, a target was introduced to increase the number and reduce the gap between the numbers of crimes recorded by the police and those for which a perpetrator is identified.
“There is some evidence that, in order to meet this target, the police focused their attention on young people who had committed non-serious offences, as they can be easier than adults to apprehend.”
85% decrease across the country
In England, the number has fallen from just over 105,000 to around 15,500 over the last ten years – a decrease of 85%.
Some 16% of first time entrants in England and Wales were under 14, according to the latest figures. Of these, 1,049 were 12 years or younger, or 6% of the total figure.
The vast majority of young people convicted or cautioned, or 84% of total entrants, were aged 14 or above.
Seriously damaging effects
Commenting on the figures, John Drew, senior associate at the Prison Reform Trust charity, said:
“In the early noughties, the government imposed a lot of centrally managed crime targets, which didn’t differentiate between low and high-level offences, so the number of children in the system increased dramatically.”
“Over the last decade, we’ve come to realise that when a child is taken into the criminal justice system, it can have a number of seriously damaging effects. Agencies have got much better at working with children before they offend, or when they’ve committed lower level offences.”
Image: Francois Marcotte under CC BY 2.0
