North Yorkshire Police reduce child arrests
A charity's urging the force to continue working.
Arrests of children by North Yorkshire Police have reduced by 76% in the past decade.
New research, released by a penal reform charity, shows the number arrests of people aged 17 and under decreased from 4,525 in 2010 to 1,065 in 2019.
The Howard League says academic research shows that each time a child comes into contact with the criminal justice system, they get dragged deeper into it, leading to more crime.
With every police force in England and Wales achieving a decrease, the charity are now pushing for more to be done.
They want a focus on areas where they say even more could be done to prevent children being arrested unnecessarily – particularly Black children and children from minority ethnic backgrounds, victims of child criminal exploitation, and children living in residential care.
Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “Every child deserves the chance to grow and fulfil their potential, and we must do all we can to ensure that they are not held back by a criminal record.
“The Howard League’s programme to reduce child arrests has shown what can be achieved by working together. Police forces have diverted resources to tackling serious crime instead of arresting children unnecessarily, and this means hundreds of thousands of boys and girls can look forward to a brighter future.
“After a successful decade spent embedding good practice across England and Wales, the challenge now is to keep up the momentum and reduce arrests still further. The Howard League will continue to support forces to make communities safer and allow more children to thrive.”