Youth crime prevention initiatives 2002/03

Report: 10
Date: 21 March 2002
By: Commissioner

Summary

The MPS has proposed new objectives related to the reduction of youth involvement in crime for 2002/03. Concern has been expressed in the MPA regarding media articles suggesting that the MPS wishes to establish a database of potential offenders. This papers clarifies the progress of early developmental work on this subject within the MPS

A. Recommendations

That Members note the proposals contained in this report.

B. Supporting information

1. MPS analysis of data in relation to street crime indicates that a high proportion of reported offences are committed by juveniles. It also indicates that about one third of victims of such crimes are juveniles. More worryingly, of those arrested for such crimes, between two thirds and three-quarters are first time entrants to the criminal justice system.

2. The fact that such a high proportion of offenders have no previous criminal records means that there have been few, if any opportunities to intervene constructively in their lives on a voluntary basis before they embarked on their criminal behaviours. The absence of prior criminal convictions means that there have been no opportunities to intervene on a compulsory basis.

3. The draft Policing plan for 2002/03 includes two objectives in relation to youth crime:

• To enhance multi-agency initiatives to divert potential offenders away from crime and
• To reduce re-offending by persistent young offenders (PYOs)

4. Both objectives will depend heavily on the extent and quality of MPS interaction with Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) and other agencies in borough Crime & Disorder Reductions Partnerships (CDRPs)

5. YOTs were established under the Crime & Disorder Act. Their role is to reduce the involvement of young people in crime as either victims or perpetrators. In addition, they manage the progress of young people who do offend (including PYOs) through the criminal justice process and subsequent sentences, where these take place within the community. The YOTs already hold information on offending children and are able to provide controlled access to such information to appropriate partners.

6. Joint work between the MPS, Youth Justice Board (YJB), Government Office for London (GOL), the Association of London Government (ALG) and the Authority resulted in a successful proposal to Ministers that a new unit should be established within the Government Office for London. The new Youth Crime Unit (YCU) has been established with the overarching objective to facilitate and support the development of borough-wide youth crime reduction strategies in the 11 London boroughs facing the most significant youth crime and victimisation problems. Its secondary objectives in support of this are:

• to identify and disseminate best practice concerning youth crime diversion;
• to identify the most appropriate sources of additional funding to assist Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) to enhance their efforts to divert actual and potential offenders away from crime.

7. The MPS, in consultation with the YJB and ACPO have now developed a new approach to reducing youth involvement in crime. The model is based on the considerable body of criminological evidence that there are clear indicative factors in the lives of children, which can be used to assess their vulnerability to subsequent delinquency.

8. The most recent research, commissioned by the YJB, has been undertaken by the organisation "Communities that Care (CtC)". The work is entitled "risk and protective factors associated with youth crime and effective interventions to prevent it". It consists of a review of previous research on this subject and a statistical analysis of data gathered by the researchers in a national survey of young people.

9. What emerges from the work is that there are a number of clear risk factors that relate to vulnerability to later delinquency and smaller number of protective factors. The prevalence of these factors in the general population has been measured and their salience to later offending assessed.

10. The factors which have emerged from the research are set out below together with the statistical analysis of the effect (salience) of each factor on the probability of a child subject to the factor becoming delinquent:

11. The research offers the prospect that it is possible to make an assessment of the children most at risk of delinquency by reference to the risk factors. Once identified there is then the potential to intervene in the lives of these children to mitigate the risk factors and thus reduce the probability of delinquency.

12. The risk factors may be grouped into those factors that relate to:

• the individual character/beliefs/attitudes of the child
• the family in which the child lives
• the School s/he attends
• the community within which the child lives

13. Thus no single agency within boroughs will be in possession of sufficient information to make a proper assessment of overall risk – this can only be achieved by a pooling of the available information.

14. It should be emphasised that the MPS does not see itself as the appropriate agency to hold this pooled data. Rather, it is envisaged that the YOTs provide means by which data is pooled and assessed and that they have the authority to task other CDRP agencies to undertake additional research where appropriate to obtain the fullest possible understanding of the most at risk children.

15. The most promising mechanism for achieving the type of data sharing envisaged is provided by the Youth Inclusion Programme (YIP) The YIP scheme was initiated by the YJB in 1998 and currently has 70 projects running across the UK, of which 13 are located in London. The essence of the YIP is that each scheme should focus on a small defined locality where the risk of children becoming involved in crime is high. Once partners agree on the locality, each provides details (in a standardised format) on the children in that locality who have come to notice as being at risk of criminality. This pooling of data is then used to select the 50 most at risk children who are then encouraged by the agencies to participate in the scheme. The pooled data is held within the YIP.

16. Schemes vary in the specific activities they run but all are required to create an action plan for each of the participating children and a plan for broader youth provision for the group of children in the locality. The objectives of each YIP are defined as:

• reduction of arrest rates for the target group by 60%
• reduction of recorded crime in the locality by 30%
• reduction of truancy and exclusions amongst the target group of one third.

17. Full, formal evaluation of the schemes nationally has yet to be completed but initial results appear to be very promising.

18. Average costs per YIP are in the region of £150k per annum. The 70 schemes in the initial pilot programme were funded on a 50/50 basis by the YJB and CDRPs. The YJB is currently seeking funding for a major increase in the number of YIPs. Subject to the resolution of funding issues, the MPS would wish to see them established across London in as many localities as may be appropriate.

19. It thus appears possible that risk-focussed youth crime prevention can be established across London based, at least in part, on an existing model. Further development of a broader operating model is underway between the MPS, YJB, DfES and other partners. This broader model will seek to incorporate the capacity to utilise schools as a second locus of intervention.

20. A key component of the work is an exploration of the legalities of information sharing. The MPS and YJB are currently developing a legally validated process and set of guidance for this purpose. It will be based on the established YIP information sharing procedures. The work is being conducted in consultation with the Information Registrar to ensure both its legality and its compliance with national best practice.

21. In the longer term it may be the case that an IT based solution is appropriate but it should be emphasised that the work is at a very early stage.

22. The MPS and its partners fully recognise potential concerns relating to privacy, data security and the potential for perceived stigmatisation of children. Privacy and security issues will be addressed as part of the work with the Information Commissioner.

23. Current trends in juvenile crime appear to indicate that increasing numbers of children are entering criminality at a higher level of seriousness than was previously the case. The criminal careers of delinquent children appear to be starting earlier and persisting longer. If not properly addressed these trends indicate that we will face increasing numbers of children stigmatised by the criminal justice process.

24. The pooling of data to enable evidence-based, risk-focussed interventions offers a potential alternative. It offers the prospect of offering the most appropriate social, educational and health support to those children most at risk of criminalisation and thus the potential to divert them away from behaviour that will damage their own life chances.

C. Financial implications

There are no identified financial implications.

D. Background papers

None.

E. Contact details

Report author: Commander Stephen Roberts, MPS.

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

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