Call for PCCs to end child criminalisation
Fiona Simpson
Tuesday, April 27, 2021
Charity urges police and crime commissioner election candidates to back campaign to end the criminalisation of children in care.
Lauded as representing the voice of people at risk of crime, police and crime commissioners (PCC) have been in existence for a decade now. Yet just one in four candidates at upcoming PCC elections have signed up to a pledge to recognise vulnerable children and young people in their campaigns.
The National Youth Advocacy Service (NYAS) is urging all 120 candidates across England and Wales running for PCC roles in 40 police constabularies to sign up to its Trouble with the Law campaign. Candidates running for mayoral positions in London, Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire – where PCC responsibilities lie with the mayor – are also being lobbied.
Care-experienced children
Trouble with the Law calls on candidates to work to keep care-experienced children out of the criminal justice system. It argues that action is needed because care-experienced children make up half of those placed in youth custody and children in care in England are six times more likely than other young people to be cautioned or convicted of a crime.
It urges those running for election on 6 May to involve young people when making policies about them; protect victims of child criminal and sexual exploitation; and campaign to have criminal records removed when a young person turns 18.
Rita Waters, NYAS chief executive, argues that PCCs “have a unique and vast opportunity to change young people’s lives for the better”.
“For too long, care-experienced children and young people have been more likely than their peers to be in contact with the criminal justice system. We are asking candidates to pledge to work with young people for a better future,” she says.
However, as of 20 April, just 43 PCC candidates and two mayoral candidates have agreed to the pledges. Half the candidates to throw their weight behind the campaign are representing the Labour Party, a further 10 are Liberal Democrats, three are representing the Green Party, three are running for Welsh national party Plaid Cymru, two candidates are Conservatives and four are independent.
Waters says: “We’re encouraged that one in four candidates have pledged their support, but we are actively campaigning to secure the commitment from even more candidates before the election date. With care-experienced children making up half of those placed in youth custody, it’s so important that candidates pledge to work with young people to forge a better future.”
The latest PCC elections will be the third tranche of elections for the role which aims to be “the voice of the people and hold the police to account”.
According to the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APPC) “they are responsible for the totality of policing”.
A decade of PCCs
Since the post was introduced in 2011, PCCs across England and Wales have introduced numerous projects in a bid to reduce youth offending and the criminalisation of young people (see box). Youth commissioner posts and youth panels have been established to bring the needs of policing and young people closer together. Yet, a decade on from their creation, some critics say PCCs have largely failed to change how police engage with young people generally.
Revolving Doors chief executive Pavan Dahliwal says “there is still a long way to go in prioritising vulnerable young adults” through interventions funded by commissioners.
“We know that the vast majority of police time gets taken up dealing with 18- to 25-year-olds and we could do with seeing a lot more resources put into recognising vulnerabilities and diverting those vulnerable young people away from prosecutions and into support services,” he argues.
According to the APPC’s 2021 report Prevention in Focus, “working with local partners to protect vulnerable people who may be at risk of becoming victims, PCCs are empowering local people with crime prevention measures to help make their local communities safer”.
PCCs are “leading local change through the delivery of government funded projects including violence reduction units which aim to prevent young people being drawn into crime and safer streets projects in disadvantaged areas”.
PCCs are also instrumental in expanding specialist support services to help young people and their families away from involvement in county lines and accepting bids for the Youth Endowment Fund which focuses on early intervention to tackle youth offending.
Crime prevention board
Meanwhile, in 2020, the APPC created its national sport, positive activity and youth crime prevention board.
The board is tasked with ensuring the APPC “acts as the centre of excellence and learning for all aspects of preventing youth crime and serious youth violence through sport and positive activities”.
It will be open to all successful candidates in PCCs elections and aims to “seek to influence future policy and strategic priority setting across the youth justice and community sport sectors”.
According to an APPC document introducing the board it will “take the leadership role on behalf of PCCs with the use of sport as an effective approach in addressing issues, specifically but not exclusively, including serious youth violence and children and young people”.
Waters wants to see the new intake of PCCs “driving forwards” work to reduce first time entry into the criminal justice system.
“Care-experienced children have often suffered from abuse or neglect, and the instability and harm to their mental health does not always end when they are taken into care. That is why all police forces need to be trauma informed,” she says.
“The best practice is intervening early, preventing care-experienced young people from entering the criminal justice system for the first time.”
POLICE AND CRIME COMMISSIONER SCHEMES LEADING THE WAY ON ENGAGING YOUNG PEOPLE
- The Youth Restorative Intervention partnership, funded by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey’s victim and community safety funds, has resulted in a 92 per cent decrease in first-time entrants to the youth justice system since 2016. It has also reduced reoffending by 18 per cent through offering certain young offenders an alternative to police cautions or prosecution and offering opportunities for victims and perpetrators to come together to discuss ways to move forward.
- In the West Midlands, each neighbourhood police area has two elected youth commissioners, aged 18 and under, serving two-year terms (pictured). The job of the youth commissioner is to advise the police and crime commissioner on issues affecting them and their peers. It aims to break down barriers between police officers and young people and gives youth commissioners the opportunity to speak directly with the police and crime commissioner, police officers and decision makers, raising issues affecting young people including community safety, youth justice, victim services and crime prevention.
- The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner serving Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Portsmouth and Southampton has introduced the Youth Commission made up of 50 young people aged 14 to 25 from a range of backgrounds. Its purpose is to “make young people part of the solution to tackling crime and improving policing, rather than being seen as part of the problem” and aims to identify priority areas relating to young people around police and crime.