Young people as victims of crime

Report: 5
Date: 20 July 2006
By: Commissioner

Summary

All young people under 17 years are considered potentially vulnerable and should receive an enhanced service from the criminal justice system. Young people are often blamed for criminal activity but sometimes forgotten as victims of crime. This report highlights issues around youth crime and victimisation. The report also describes activities in which police officers are engaged to prevent young people becoming crime victims or offenders. Everyone working with young people should be aware of the difficulties young victims may face, together with the need to develop and maximise engagement opportunities.

A. Recommendations

1. Members are asked to note the contents of this report and continue to support the work currently taking place.

B. Supporting information

Overview

1. The Code of Practice for Victims of Crime (A guide for victims) has been circulated to all Youth Offending Teams and police crime investigation units. All young people under 17 years are considered as vulnerable and should receive an enhanced service in accordance with the Code.

2. This service includes informing the victim if their crime is going to be investigated within five days of the crime being reported, referring the victim to Victim Support, keeping the victim updated on the investigation and informing them of arrests and decisions made regarding charging, caution, reprimand or final warning, within one day.

3. The service also includes additional support and special measures at court if necessary. Young victims of crime can attend pre-visits to court to familiarise themselves with the building/processes and receive one to one support from Victim Support volunteers.

4. The victim should be informed of the court result within one day of receiving the outcome from the court. The service young victims receive is a Youth Offending Team (YOT) performance indicator, seeking a minimum 75% victim satisfaction rate.

5. YOTs also offer young victims the opportunity to be involved in a ‘Restorative Justice’ intervention, if appropriate. Restorative Justice aims to restore or put things back to the way they were before the offence took place. This may involve compensation or some community service to repair damage to the community.

6. Police officers within the YOT, also offer counselling, support and personal safety programmes to prevent young people becoming victims again. Safer Schools Officers receive training in victim support, to ensure that they can assist victims identified within the school community.

7. Victim Support has also been invited to Junior Citizen Schemes to highlight support available to young victims of crime and members of their family.

8. Safer Neighbourhood Teams operate in all London electoral wards. Teams use problem-solving approaches to deal with issues of local concern. Over 40% of concerns raised by local people relate to ‘youth disorder’. Teams work with local residents, businesses, local authorities, schools and other partners to develop lasting solutions.

9. Efforts to tackle hotspot crime locations and reduce repeat calls to ‘youth disorder’ can bring officers into conflict with young people. The work of the Safer Neighbourhood officers includes targeting locations and prolific offenders; initiatives to improve the environment and make all sections of the community feel safer; as well as working closely with partners to provide worthwhile activities for young people in the local area.

10. The Youth Justice Board holds the lead for the Prevent and Deter strand of the Government’s Priority and Prolific Offenders strategy. This report highlights some police-led prevention and diversion initiatives in support of this strand.

Crime statistics

11. Figures relating to the disability, faith or non-belief and sexual orientation of young people as victims of crime are not collected by the MPS. Crime data by ethnicity is based on the six point MPS Identity Code key as defined by the reporting officer. Self Defined Ethnicity data is being collected now but gaps in existing information make any such figures unreliable.

12. Youth crime continues to be a concern for boroughs, with many experiencing a rise in youth on youth offences. Youths make up 60% of persons accused of personal robbery, a proportion largely unchanged over the last eighteen months. Youth victims account for 40% of total personal robbery.

13. Key statistics relating to young victims of crime for the period April 2005 – March 2006 are as follows:

• 18,000 males aged between 11 years and 19 years were victims of robbery or the snatch of their property.
  • 4296 females in this age range were victims of these crimes.
  • 13,020 victims of robbery or snatches were White European, 3851 were African or Caribbean and 3034 were of Indian or Pakistani appearance.
• 16,642 males aged between 11 years and 19 years were victims of Violence Against the Person. This includes Murder, Grievous Bodily Harm, Actual Bodily Harm and Common Assault.
  • 13,128 young females were victims.
  • 15,368 victims of violence against the person were White European, 7523 were African or Caribbean and 3,141 were of Indian or Pakistani appearance.
• 294 males aged between 11 years and 19 years were victims of Sexual Offences.
  • 3,474 females were victims.
  • 1,417 victims of Sexual Offences were White European, 693 were African or Caribbean and 252 were of Indian or Pakistani appearance.

Child Abuse Investigation Command

12. The Child Abuse Investigation Command (CAIC) record and investigate all allegations of abuse against those under the age of 18 occurring within the family, or committed by a carer or professional. There are 19 Child Abuse Investigation Teams across the capital covering the 32 Boroughs where officers work closely in partnership with Social Services and other agencies. Two major investigation teams investigating child murder and complex abuse enquiries, a Hi Tech Crime Unit and Paedophile Unit tackling Internet abuse and predatory paedophiles, make up the command.

13. For the period April 2005 – March 2006 the Child Abuse Investigation teams dealt with 9468 recorded allegations of crime and 8033 offences, of which:

• 392 were for the offence of rape
• 1121 were for other sexual offences
• 4594 were for physical offences
• 1613 were for neglect offences
• The other 313 were made up from other offences.

14. In response to the growing number of diverse communities within the capital and some of the inherent cultural beliefs held by members of those communities, CAIC has developed, working closely with the London Child Protection Committee, various initiatives to develop engagement with those distinct communities.

15. Project Violet is working with community members in particular the Congolese community, around ritualistic belief related child abuse. A programme of seminars, media engagement, presentations and training is ongoing and now moves into its second year broadening its remit to include other belief based child protection issues such as Female Genital Mutilation. The CAIC has just won for the second year running the MPS Diversity in Action award.

16. Project Paladin was introduced to tackle child trafficking through Heathrow into London and there is currently a team of detectives at Heathrow monitoring arriving children. An officer is also based at Lunar House monitoring children reporting; and working closely with Home Office staff to identify children at risk.

17. Project Indigo addresses sudden unexpected death in infancy and was introduced in 2005 to improve the quality of service to families that had suffered the tragedy of a child death, previously known as cot death. Since April 2005, CAIC has investigated 113 SUDI’s. Project Indigo is developing the MPS response to the government agenda on child death screening teams that will be introduced nationally by April 2008.

18. The Safeguarding Children Independent Advisory Group have been key in developing such initiatives and are currently broadening their membership to include young people. This will provide a more child focused response to operational and emerging issues and reflect the needs and concerns of young people in London today.

Every Child Matters

19. The Children Act 2004 is the legal framework for the Government’s national change programme ‘Every Child Matters'. A new approach to the well-being of children and young people from birth to age nineteen. The Government’s aim is for every child to have support they need to: be healthy; stay safe; enjoy and achieve; make a positive contribution; and achieve economic well-being.

20. Each Local Authority has either set up or is finalising the format for their Local Safeguarding Children Boards. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is represented by a Detective Inspector from the Specialist Crime Directorate (SCD5) and a senior management team representative from the local borough. The MPS Policing Plan makes a commitment to 100% attendance at these meetings.

21. Local Safeguarding Children Boards on boroughs are taking place every two to three months and police are always in attendance. Attendance is monitored locally and by the Every Child Matters police inspector within Territorial Policing command. Target attendance at other MPS meetings ranges from 85% - 95%, but this appears driven by a realistic expectation that one attendance failure should not result in a recorded failure to meet a specific target.

22. Each Local Authority has written their three-year Children and Young People Plan that sets out how the five key outcomes will be met in partnership. Each police Borough Command Unit has been consulted and the plans are currently being collated to identify the main issues affecting the police, both locally and corporately.

23. Joint Area Reviews, OfSTED inspections of the way that local authorities are delivering on the Children Act over the next three years have been completed in London with only two reports published to date. The police have been fully involved in the preparation for these inspections and both reports were complementary about police involvement.

24. Police are involved in a Common Assessment Framework (CAF) pilot being run by Wandsworth Local Authority. Currently five Safer Neighbourhood Teams are involved. This work will assist the future development of the MPS involvement in the CAF process across London.

25. A Performance Needs Analysis is being completed to identify the MPS response to delivering the statutory requirements of the Children Act, which include training all staff coming into contact with children and young people. This includes assessing our IT systems to ensure that we are able to access the new national Information Sharing index as well as the local common assessment framework systems.

Initiatives

25. Seventy police officers and eight police staff are permanently attached to borough-based Youth Offending Teams (YOTs). These officers are often the main point of contact with young crime victims and witnesses. The police officers participate in varied diversion and prevention schemes operated by YOTs.

26. Safer School Partnerships were set up in response to the Prime Minister’s Street Crime Action Group initiative to combat youth crime and have been in operation since April 2002. Police officers are working in secondary schools to reduce crime and victimisation amongst young people. The officers help create a safer school community; reduce truancy; encourage more students to remain in education; and improve attendance, behaviour and academic attainment. There are currently 187 Safer School Officers working in 307 schools across London.

27. Approximately 80% of London boroughs engage with primary school pupils by way of Junior Citizen Schemes. These initiatives are multi-agency, aimed at Year 6 pupils (aged 10 and 11 years) and address personal safety, drugs and alcohol, travel safety, the danger from utilities, use of emergency services and victim support awareness.

28. Several Junior Citizen schemes also specifically target children with disabilities, to prevent victimisation of more vulnerable groups. In Lambeth, two special needs schools attended the Clapham scheme. Personal safety and other stations were adapted accordingly to meet the needs of young people.

29. The Specialist Crime Directorate (SCD) in conjunction with Safer Schools Partnerships has developed a number of crime prevention, primary and secondary school education resources through the miss Dorothy.com organisation. This includes a ‘moving on pack’ aimed at nine to eleven year olds, and ‘Watch over me’ Series 2 and 3. These are holistic programmes addressing violence, safety, use of drugs and alcohol, weapons and building confidence. These resources are currently being used in 16 London Boroughs. 40,000 key stage 2 workbooks, teachers training and training packs were purchased by SCD and provided to primary schools in 8 priority gun crime boroughs. A further resource is currently being developed to address the transition period between primary and secondary school.

30. Operation Blunt is an MPS initiative to tackle knife crime in London. Activities include developing education packages in relation to guns and knives as well as working with the Crown Prosecution Service to take action against those selling combat knives. As part of the National Knife Amnesty, the MPS amnesty concluded on 30 June 2006, where over 8000 knives were surrendered in London.

31. Safer Neighbourhood Teams operate now in all boroughs and provide an accessible point of local contact. Tackling community concerns through problem-solving initiatives has achieved increased levels of public satisfaction with policing and improved public reassurance. To assist with the primary/secondary transition period specifically and maintain contact with young people, Safer Neighbourhood officers are encouraged to contact their local schools, introduce themselves to head teachers and assist with projects within their remit.

32. Safer Neighbourhood teams across London are making an impact. Two examples of the many successes:

• St Hellier Ward, Merton – over the twelve months since the team started, local traders reported a 60% increase in trade, increased footfall, improved staff retention, reduced crime and anti-social behaviour.
• Marks Gate Ward, Barking and Dagenham – increased police visibility and problem solving activity led to the re-instatement of a local bus route, saved local shops under threat of closure and led to PCSOs being hailed as the ‘blue angels’ by local residents.

33. Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) and Constables are reassuring school staff, parents and especially pupils by their presence. Officers are gaining local information and intelligence to tackle problems, advising on community safety issues, gaining the trust of young people and raising awareness on personal safety and how avoid becoming victims of crime.

34. Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark boroughs recently worked in partnership with three Pupil Referral Units to produce an educational resource, ‘Fix Up, Look Sharp’. This resource pack addresses four priority issues, namely: gun crime, knives, domestic violence; and stop and search. So successful was this resource that it has now been offered to every London secondary school.

35. Metropolitan Volunteer Police Cadets operate in twenty-eight London boroughs. There are currently 938 Cadets in London. These young people are engaged in local community safety initiatives; support Safer Neighbourhood Teams; assist in policing sports and ceremonial events. Cadets also participate in crime reduction initiatives such as mobile phone marking; and assist police in age-related test-purchase operations in connection with alcohol, knives, fireworks, etc. The Cadets provide an excellent link with young people and a valuable resource of peer educators to promote community safety messages.

36. An initiative on mobile phone theft has recently been introduced to the Safer Streets boroughs of Greenwich, Camden, Croydon, Lewisham, Ealing, Haringey, Enfield and Hackney. The initiative involves targeting young people in schools and colleges, with the aim of ensuring that they register their mobile phones and portable electrical equipment on www.immobilise.com. Boroughs are encouraging schools to include the registering of equipment in ICT lessons. This initiative makes portable electrical items less of a target for thieves and therefore young people having them in their possession less of a target.

37. As part of the current Safer Streets 6 initiative, additional high visibility patrols are taking place during the peak times for robberies involving young people. Targeted patrols between 3pm and 6pm on schooldays, seek to tackle unacceptable behaviour and reduce crime.

38. Restorative Justice interventions are increasingly being used within secondary schools, giving the victims of crime, anti-social behaviour and bullying, the opportunity to have their harm or loss acknowledged and reparation made. Offenders are expected to make amends for the harm they have caused and to acknowledge the distress they have caused to their victim. In the last year, sixty Safer Schools Officers have been trained to deliver Restorative Justice interventions.

39. The Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate as a response to Recommendation 18 of the MPA report 'Disabled people and the police-a new relationship?' are supporting a pilot schools project initiated by Croydon Police targeting the issue of disability hate crime. The intention will be to run a drama-based competition for secondary schools and an art-based competition for junior schools based upon the findings of the Disability and Fear of Crime Survey (Croydon) 2005. The intention thereafter would be to capture the winning presentations on a DVD as a longer-term resource for schools.

40. The Pan London Guns, Gangs and Knives Reduction Board was established in September 2005. The Board is currently chaired by Commander Dick (SCD) but supported by statutory partners, Safer Neighbourhoods and the Violent Crime Directorate. Current research identifies an increase in young people as victims and offenders involved in violent crime. One of the most common reasons cited by young people for carrying weapons and joining gangs is protection and the fear of becoming a victim. There are two strategic aims of the Board.

• To reduce the level of gun and knife enabled crime often associated with gang membership
• To reduce the fear of gun and knife enabled crime often associated with gang membership in London’s communities

A delivery plan for the Board is being reviewed and includes:

• Development and coordination of education programmes to prevent gang and weapon criminality
• Identification of effective approaches in preventing and diverting young people from gun and knife crime
• Maximising the effectiveness of resources available
• Enhancing community engagement and reassurance
• Prevention of gun and knife crime

Engagement and diversion

35. Youth engagement is approached from a citizen focused perspective by the Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate (DCFD). Their key themes are based on empowering young people by giving them access to police corporate decision-making. Empowering young people to identify problems within their community, then develop and deliver their own solutions.

36. The DCFD’s focus is engagement at pan-London level with voluntary organisations and groups that reflect the focus of empowering and enabling young people. To achieve this, DCFD has a number of ongoing initiatives to prevent young people becoming victims of crime.

37. In 2005 the DCFD sponsored the first SPY (Safety, Police and Youth) Conference. The conference was organised, delivered and evaluated by young people through partnership with the United Kingdom Youth Parliament. The Conference had three key themes identified by young people, which were discussed in workshops. These were personal safety; knives and guns and stop and search.

38. The young people then identified key activities post conference, which are being progressed by police. The DCFD has funded an Anti-Knife and Gun Crime initiative supported by Operation Trident and Operation Blunt on a proposal developed by young people. Called Project Consider, a film has been produced wholly by young people interviewing young people who have been victims of knife and gun crime. This includes perpetrators in prison and those who have carried weapons. Work is now underway with other key partners to develop a resources pack to accompany the DVD.

39. Specific work has been developed this year with the Out on Thursday, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual (LBGT) Youth Project. LGBT young people have reviewed the MPS third party True Vision products to design and develop a safety information leaflet specifically for LGBT young people. This leaflet gives advice on how to avoid becoming a victim of crime and what support is available to you if you do. This product has been so successful it is being considered for national use.

40. The DCFD work in partnership with Consortium Freestyle [an LGBT voluntary organisation] and will be hosting a pan London Conference in November 2006 to provide awareness of LGBT issues to schools and generic youth work providers.

41. An initiative is being developed with Safer Neighbourhood Teams on improving how we engage and build relationships with young people at local level. A key product is that each Safer Neighbourhood Team will complete an Environmental Visual Audit (EVA) with young people to identify places where they feel unsafe and could become victims of crime. This requirement is being supported by five seminars funded by the DCFD, which introduces officers to support services working with young people and shares best practice to support the EVA process. Safer Neighbourhood Teams will be working with young people and partners to improve the safety at identified locations.

42. The DCFD will be funding the UK Youth Parliament to deliver a second SPY Conference in October this year. A key area of discussion agreed by young people for inclusion in the Conference, is working with local police to make areas safe.

43. To empower young people in police corporate decision-making, the Met Youth Advisory Group (MYAG) was established. Young people provide advice to the MPS alongside the Independent Advisory Group, LGBT Advisory Group, Disability Independent Advisory Group and the Gypsy and Traveller Advisory Group. Young people are also represented on the Territorial Policing (TP) Strategic Stop and Search Advisory Group, the Custody Directorate Advisory Group and TP Operation Blunt Advisory Group.

44. VOYAGE is a series of programmes created by the Metropolitan Black Police Association to ensure that the voices of young people are heard and listened to; and that they are seen as contributors to healthy and successful community life.

45. VOYAGE aims to create and nurture young leaders from local communities, who in turn will help local communities combat issues of crime, improve environments within schools, assist the improvement of services from local public and private sector providers to the community.

Programmes under VOYAGE:

• Leadership Programme (Residential & modular)
• YOT Leadership Programme (modular)
• International Leadership Programme
• Know Your Rights Seminars
• Peace Pledge
• School and College workshops
• Pizza Evenings
• Peer mentoring

46. Programmes are delivered in London’s 6 ‘Trident’ boroughs (Brent, Hackney, Haringey, Lambeth, Newham and Southwark) and four additional boroughs, namely, Lewisham, Waltham Forest, Croydon and Westminster.

47. The KICKZ project is a football-related pan London project of youth inclusion and diversion run in partnership with the MPA, the Football Association, the Football Association Premier League and the Football League. Currently there are three pilot sites, managed by Brentford, Fulham and Tottenham football clubs, operating in Ealing, Lambeth and Haringey. The second phase is due to start in September 2006.

48. At full rollout, KICKZ aims to involve all professional football clubs in London and a host of partners, taking football onto targeted estates across all London boroughs. Local facilities will be used for local provision. Throughout the year coaches will provide three two-hour sessions per week at times that have been identified with high levels of crime or anti-social behaviour. By also targeting local individuals, believed to be involved in anti-social behaviour, the schemes also aim to reduce crime. The project aims to reach a wide spectrum of youths aged between 11-18 years.

49. Another initiative to divert young people from crime and anti-social behaviour and to promote engagement is MET-TRACK. This is a Metropolitan Police and Charlton Athletic FC community scheme aimed at offering young people the chance to take up sport as a healthy alternative in life and take responsibility for their future. The current scheme operates in Bexley and Greenwich boroughs.

50. Young people from local secondary schools attend the event and participate in five different coaching stations of running, shot putt, long jump, “citizenship” and football. The “citizenship” station gives the participants the chance to discuss the impact of disorder and crime on their borough with police officers and staff. Professional football coaches and international athletes give enthusiastic and knowledgeable advice at the other stations.

Equality Impact Assessment

51. An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) measures the impact of proposals on communities and the opportunities available within them, via a structured and transparent process. A formal EIA seeks to eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity, good relationships between groups, positive attitudes towards others and participation in public life. Attached at Appendix 1 is a copy of the EIA for the Safer Neighbourhoods Programme.

52. The Safer Neighbourhoods Unit is currently reviewing the MPS Youth Strategy. The effectiveness of individual initiatives has been the subject of either formal or informal evaluation; this information is currently being assessed as part of the review.

53. The initiatives and engagement opportunities referred to in this report are intended to benefit all young people. Police officers are working closely with partners to deliver strategies that address the five key outcomes under Every Child Matters.

54. School Governors, staff and pupils support improving links with the police through both Safer School Officers and Safer Neighbourhood Team officers attending their schools and engaging with their pupils. Safer Schools Officers support teachers to provide ‘expert’ information on drugs education, personal safety and crime prevention topics in the Personal Social Health Education syllabus.

55. In December 2004, a formal policy was introduced regarding how Safer Schools Officers deal with crimes committed by pupils whilst at school. This policy encourages school-based officers to confer with head teachers and to agree on the course of action taken with minor offences. Where previously, incidents have always been dealt with by head teachers without recourse to the Criminal Justice System, the policy encourages a common sense approach that can prevent young people being criminalized for minor offences. The policy is subject to certain safeguards and recognises the impact on the victim, parent/guardian and any specific school community concerns.

56. The KICKZ initiative is estate-based and the activities are for both sexes as well as different ages, with qualified professional coaches directing play. The initiative is subject of an externally funded independent evaluation. The Met-TracK initiative is held at various sports arenas depending on the borough and once again qualified coaches are in attendance.

Abbreviations

CAF

Common Assessment Framework

CAIC

Child Abuse Investigation Command

DCFD

Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate

EVA

Environmental Visual Audit

ICT

Information Communication and Technology

IT

Information Technology

LBGT

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual

MPA

Metropolitan Police Authority

MPS

Metropolitan Police Service

MYAG

Met Youth Advisory Group

OfSTED

Office for Standards in Education

PCSO

Police Community Support Officers

SCD

Specialist Crime Directorate

SPY

Safety, Police and Youth

SUDI

Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy

TP

Territorial Policing

YOT

Youth Offending Team

Projects

Consider

police working with the Youth Parliament helping young people to develop anti-knife and gun crime resources

Indigo

police initiative to improve the service to families who suffer the tragic unexplained death of an infant (formerly cot death)

KICKZ

football-related youth inclusion project in partnership with the football authorities

MET-TRACK

a police initiative aimed at offering sport to young people as a route toward fitness and a healthy lifestyle

Paladin

initiative to tackle child trafficking through Heathrow

Voyage

to create and nurture young leaders from local communities

Violet

working with diverse communities to tackle ritualistic child abuse

Operations

Blunt

to tackle knife crime in London

Trident

pro-active response to violent crime within our black communities.

C. Race and equality impact

1. Specific initiatives through the Diversity and Citizen Focus Directorate and Black Police Association, seek to increase engagement among traditionally ‘hard to hear’ sections of the community. Innovative approaches are being tried to engage with young people and gain a greater understanding of their issues.

2. Through the training programme and Schools conferences, officers and partners involved with the Safer Schools Partnerships and Safer Neighbourhoods Teams are receiving diversity training input on areas such as identifying young people at risk, as well as supporting victims and witnesses of crime. Such training is enabling officers to gain a better understanding of how to work and interact with young people and understand how young people view the world, in particular those from different communities.

3. The Chid Abuse Investigation Command is developing initiatives with distinct communities in London around ritualistic belief-related child abuse. The CAIC is working closely with the London Child Protection Committee and engaging with communities.

D. Financial implications

1. The training requirement for Every Child Matters still awaits evaluation. It is anticipated that various levels of training will be required for officers who have most and least direct involvement with young people. Training packages are under evaluation and training will commence within the next year.

2. Corporate MPS Information Technology systems will need to be updated to include the requirements of the Children Act. Costings are unknown at this time.

E. Background papers

None

F. Contact details

Report author: Mick Morris, Superintendent, Territorial Policing, MPS

For more information contact:

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

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