Southampton: Youth crime – 'prevention is better than cure'
Police chief sets out how police are tackling problems in the city
When it comes to youth crime in Southampton, according to Chief Inspector Marcus Kennedy, ‘prevention is better than cure’.
Youth crime has come into the public eye recently after two ‘organised crime’ gangs were discovered by police operating in the SO14 and SO16 postcode areas.
The police chief made the statement on prevention in a meeting as councillors and justice bosses met to discuss the problems in the city and the work that is being done to tackle them.
Southampton has a ‘high level’ of first time youth entrance into the justice system, a ‘high level’ of reoffending and is an ‘outlier’ when it comes to serious youth crime.
On top of this – and as a potential contributor, the city also has comparably high levels of emotional mental health issues, substance abuse issues – and a high number of young people not in education, training or employment.
To help combat the issue, one year ago (2022), Southampton City Council started the Young People’s Service. This brought together the Youth Justice Service, the Missing Exploitation and Trafficked Team and the Building Resilience Service.
The need for creating a dedicated service was evident in 2022, when the children’s social care response to serious youth violence was found to be ‘underdeveloped’.
Bringing all the elements of a service together means for better cohesion.
In a report produced by Tim Nelson, the head of the Young People’s Service, it states that: “The Youth Justice arm of the service aims to prevent young people re-offending, aims to improve outcomes for young people involved in the youth justice service system, keeps the general public safe through the management of risk from young people who present a risk to others and works with vulnerable young people who have features which increases their likelihood of offending to prevent them from becoming involved in the criminal justice system, by providing diversionary services.”
It is this prevention which Ch Insp Kennedy sees as ‘really good’.
The inspector started last year when the Young People’s Service was already in force.
He said: “Having come from the eastern side of Hampshire, that (prevention) wasn’t always the bar. It was about pursuing – whereas there seems to be a balance.
“Thinking about prevention, it’s really good from our point of view.
“From my position I don’t just like the police (being seen as) pursuing, locking people up.
“Prevention is better than cure. If I can prevent a crime it reduces the amount of resources I’ve got to put towards statements, looking after a victim, going to court – all very costly, not just in terms of finance but in terms of time.”
The aims of the youth justice arm are ‘achieved’ by ‘building positive relationships’ with young people, raising victim awareness, community reparation and restorative work. Other ways the service tries to achieve its aims is through focusing on education and ‘creating hope and aspiration’ amongst youths.
According to the report: “In the last 18 months there has been a significant reduction in the number of first-time entrants to the formal Youth Justice System through development of a Preventative Service in the Young People’s Service.”