Child arrests by North Yorkshire and Humberside Police drop in a decade
The new figures today come from the Howard League for Penal Reform
Last updated 23rd Aug 2021
Child arrests by North Yorkshire Police and Humberside Police have reduced in a decade.
The figures have been revealed today as part of a campaign by the Howard League for Penal Reform.
Since 2010, the Howard League has been working with police forces across England and Wales to reduce child arrests, helping to ensure that hundreds of thousands of boys and girls do not have their lives ruined by a criminal record.
The charity says data provided by police forces show that arrests of children aged 17 and under were reduced by 13 per cent last year – from 72,475 in 2019 to 63,272 in 2020. This continues a positive trend seen throughout the decade since 2010, when 245,763 arrests were recorded.
It added that the impact can be observed nationwide. Every regional police force in England and Wales has achieved a significant reduction in child arrests over the last decade, with all but one reducing their arrest rate by at least 60 per cent.
North Yorkshire Police made 905 child arrests in 2020. This compares to 1,065 the year before and 4,525 in 2010, the year that the Howard League campaign began.
Humberside Police made 1,310 child arrests in 2020. This compares to 1,402 the year before and 5,751 in 2010.
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.
“A decade of success for the Howard League’s programme to reduce child arrests has given hundreds of thousands of children a brighter future. North Yorkshire Police has made giant strides, diverting resources to tackling serious crime instead of arresting children unnecessarily, and this approach will help to make our communities safer.
“As we begin to emerge from the pandemic, and as police forces recruit thousands more officers, the challenge now is to build on this success and reduce arrests still further. Keeping up the momentum will enable even more children to thrive.”
As in previous years, the Howard League asked police forces to provide figures broken down by age, gender and ethnicity.
It says police forces achieved a significant reduction in arrests of primary school-aged children – boys and girls aged 11 and under – from 392 in 2019 to 261 in 2020.
But the Howard League added that it found no obvious improvement in the way police recorded ethnicity. There were almost 5,200 arrests in 2020 for which the ethnicity of the child was not recorded.