Warwickshire bucks the trend as youth crime in the county drops
Claims that a drive to cut crime by young people has had ‘no measurable impact’ have been dismissed.
Councillor Izzi Seccombe has responded to claims made by criminologists at the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS), King’s College London that success in targeting youth crime has not been successful and that every re-offending target set since 2000 had been missed.
The report was critical of bodies who had struggled to tackle underlying social problems in the lives of young offenders. But Cllr Seccombe has highlighted a different story in Warwickshire.
She said: “Obviously I cannot comment on the nationwide effectiveness of the report’s findings but I can say that, here in Warwickshire, we have a comprehensive plan to tackle youth crime involving both offenders and vulnerable young people who are at risk of offending.”
Cllr Seccombe pointed to figures which show that of the 53,000 plus young people in Warwickshire only 1,415 (2.66 per cent) featured in the criminal justice system in 2007, including those receiving warnings and reprimands for minor crimes.
The 1,415 young people involved in the justice system committed 2362 crimes in the year 2007, an average of 6.5 crimes a day over the whole of the county. Whilst the report’s authors claim that more young people are being criminalised or imprisoned, Warwickshire only saw 32 young people receive a custodial sentence in 2007.
One of the keys to the county’s success, said Cllr Seccombe, lies in the early intervention and prevention activities which are now well established for under 13-year-olds and the greater emphasis placed on giving guidance, advice and support to parents. Again, this bucks the trend suggested by the CCJS report which stated that attempts to prevent children getting to the stage where they could only be dealt with by sanctions were proving ‘a demanding task’.
She said: “Prevention of crime rather than dealing with it after the event is ‘a demanding task’ but a much better solution for young people and the communities they live in. The fact that we have very few 13-year-olds coming to our attention indicates that the work between parents, the youth offending service, schools, the Police and other agencies is working. This proactive approach is cutting out problems before they appear.”
Warwickshire had further cause to celebrate when it reversed the claims of the report that re-offending figures were on the rise. The average re-offending rate for young people is 37.5 per cent in Warwickshire – making the county one of the best performers in the country.
The Intensive Supervision and Surveillance Programme closely monitors many offenders leaving custody but also offers support.
Cllr Seccombe concluded: “In Warwickshire, we have worked well across the board - from supporting vulnerable families whose children might be at risk of committing crimes in the future to the intense programme of rehabilitation offered to offenders and our youth offending service is one of the best performing in the country. The evidence backs up my view that we have worked hard to tackle youth crime in the county - and this is reflected in how we are having less young people in the justice system, less receiving custodial sentences and less young people re-offending than our counterparts in other parts of the country.”