YES: MIKE THOMAS, vice chair, Association of Youth Offending Team Managers - There can be little doubt the police targets for "offences brought to justice" are resulting in more young people coming through the criminal justice system. Once in the system, it is increasingly likely they will return. Youth offending teams are spending a disproportionate amount of time dealing with cases that should not be in the system, leaving less time to work with serious offenders. The targets we have are in direct conflict with police targets.
YES: CHRIS STANLEY, head of policy and research, Nacro - Police performance is scored on the numbers that are prosecuted and get to court. Our research shows that areas that divert large numbers of young people from the youth court have low levels of custody. Minor offenders appearing in court for the first time are more likely to move up through the court system to custody than those diverted away from court.
NO@ BARONESS SCOTLAND, minister for criminal justice - Of the 190,000 young people dealt with by police and courts each year, only four per cent receive a custodial sentence. Custody is always a last resort for under-18s and a priority for the youth justice system is to turn young people away from crime. The police and Crown Prosecution Service decide whether to bring an offence to justice and have a range of disposals, including cautions, that can prevent reoffending while bringing young offenders to account.
NO: INSPECTOR MARK SCOULAR, specialist crime directorate, Metropolitan Police - During my 13 years in the police, I've never seen a performance target involving the arrest of young people. Operational police officers are totally overwhelmed with the amount of paperwork they have to complete. If they arrest a young person under 17, they can double the amount of paperwork generated. Quite the opposite to being "incentivised" - there's no good reason for the police to want to arrest young people in the first instance.
