Edges Magazine Issue 21: Crime

EDGES MAGAZINE Issue 21

April 2000

C R I M E
- no other option?

Inspector Paul Wotton from the Metropolitan Police spoke at our Oxford Conference "Youth Lost Through Social Exclusion".
We print his paper .

Within the Metropolitan Police Service, Community Safety and Partnership Branch, there are three teams; Crime Resistance/Prevention, Partnership and Youth.

I and two colleagues have responsibility for a range of issues relating to drugs and youth which include supporting schools, the Youth Service and beyond, in a range of initiatives. One of several other colleagues has responsibility for liaising closely with organisations who represent the homeless, the mentally ill, gay and lesbians and ethnic groups. Indeed, all of these groups may well suffer some form of social exclusion themselves.

In relation to Youth, our objectives can be summarised as follows:

* to consult with young people;
* to reduce victimisation;
* to reduce offending;
* to reduce the level of drug misuse;
* to promote active citizenship;
* to improve the quality of life of communities .

There is research which identifies the connection between truancy and crime and school exclusion and crime . But is crime the only option? There are some, in fact, that do not offend at all. At the same time one must not forget that a significant number of truants and those excluded may, and do become victims of crime instead of, and sometimes as well as, offenders.

The Police Research Group Study in 1995 reported:
'As truants, all children are potential victims of others. They are unable to seek the support of those who would normally care for them and are liable to be abused by those who would do them harm.'
The findings revealed:

* About 35% of all juveniles arrested in this period committed the offences during school hours (3752 out of 10691);
* About 16% of the offenders arrested throughout this period were juveniles (10691 out of 63467);
* The number of young offenders arrested for committing offences during school hours equates to nearly 6% of the total number of offenders of all ages arrested in London during this period;
* Offences committed during school hours, in order of frequency, include theft handling stolen goods, burglary, criminal damage, assault and robbery.

Whilst all statistics can be open to interpretation, research in a variety of boroughs and counties provide similar percentages, subject to some very local variations. Under the new Crime and Disorder Act, protocols are being established between different local agencies on the issue of the sharing of relevant information to bring about a reduction in levels of crime and disorder. Truancy and exclusion will, no doubt, feature here.

It is worth mentioning a Home Office Research Study published this year - Drugs and Crime: Results of Research on Drug Testing and Interviewing Arrestees.
One of the major findings was:

* Over 80% of all arrestees held for theft of a motor vehicle, taking a vehicle without the owner's consent, theft (shoplifting) and burglary (dwelling) tested positive for at least one drug.

Although I do not have a breakdown of ages, there is no doubt in my mind that some substance or substances is present when many young people offend whilst truanting or being excluded. Surveys have actually shown that the early use of tobacco, alcohol and solvents are predictors of the later use of illicit drugs. It is therefore little wonder that, through friendship networks amongst disaffected young people, those truanting or excluded are introduced to such substances. Should they be also homeless, offending is even more likely. For some, drugs and crime can offer alternative means by which to demonstrate status and achievement, in addition to providing financial rewards as well.

We believe that crime reduction strategies and early intervention with these high risk groups through multi-agency initiatives are the way forward.

Some initiatives to combat truanting
Much has been done in the intervening years to combat truanting. Many partnerships exist, often between local education authorities, local schools, police and the business community in an attempt to address and reduce levels and instances of truancy.
They include:

* Leaflet campaigns focused on parents;
* Publicity stands in local shopping centres;
* Advertising campaigns on local buses;
* Pupil pass schemes;
* Truancy hot-lines;
* Truancy watch/truancy free zone;
* Truancy watches.

Joint action is usually taken with the local authority, concentrating on the areas where truants are known to frequent, such as in town centres and shopping precincts. We always keen to involve the local business community. Some schemes are enhanced by posters displayed in shops, and in other prominent locations, information packs for staff, together with leaflets distributed to parents backed up by local publicity.

One particular initiative worth mentioning is where relevant students are offered the chance to attend suitable work experience for one day a week in the last year of schooling. In return, return, the student must attend full-time education for the remaining the last year of schooling. In return, the student must attend full-time education for the remaining four days.

Prior to the Crime and Disorder Act police did not have power to return a child to a school or other place of safety when truanting unless there was a likelihood of significant harm being caused to the child. Now, we are able to so return them. Interpretation of this new legislation is currently being developed under local community safety strategies.

Within the Misspent Youth report a survey of 55 local education authorities revealed that a total of 2,000 parents were summoned for not ensuring their children received full-time education. 70% were fined, 5% were redirected for an education supervision order and the remainder found not guilty, or discharged.

EXCLUSION
In relation to exclusion a range of research has been conducted, revealing the following:

* Eighty-three per cent of excluded pupils are males;
* All males, and 62% of females permanently excluded from school, admit offending;
* Of 600 young offenders sentenced at a youth court, 42% had been excluded from school;
* Seventy-five per cent of males and 50% of females temporarily excluded admitted offending when so excluded;
* There were 12,476 permanent exclusions nationally in 1995/6 of which 18% (2,251) were in London;
* Some young offenders have committed between 20-50 offences before they are actually arrested.

This same year, a DfEE study, not unsurprisingly, found that:
'Young people who had truanted were less likely to be in full-time education, less likely to have a full-time job offering training, and more likely to be unemployed and inactive, than those who had not truanted.'

In the Misspent Youth Report, the Audit Commission state that 23% of young offenders sentenced in court had engaged in truancy to a significant degree.

TRUANCY
There are many factors that contribute to a young person truanting from school.
These include:

* Academic difficulties;
* Difficulties in personal relationships: e.g. bullying;
* Unhappiness at home;
* Absence condoned by parents/carers.

In a 1995 Home Office study - National Standards for the Supervision of Offenders in the Community - 42% of offenders of school age, who were sentenced in a youth court, had been excluded from school. A further 23% had been truanting significantly.

Another Home Office study in this same year - Young People and Crime - A national random sample of 1721 young people aged 14-25 (plus a booster sample of 808 young people from ethnic minorities) were asked directly about their involvement in crime, truancy and other similar issues:

* Thirty-seven per cent of males and 28% of females said that they had skipped school for at least one day without permission;
* Seventy-eight per cent of males and 53% of females who truanted once a week, committed offences;
* The average age that males first truanted from school was 14;
* The odds on offending of those who truanted were three times higher than those who did not truant;

It is clear that the frequency of truanting increases the likelihood of offending. What is not clear is whether truancy leads to crime or criminal behaviour leads to truancy.

In London we conducted internal research on offences committed in the capital during the first six and a half months of 1997.
The criteria were:

* Where the persons accused were between 10-16 years old, and the time of committing the offences was between 9am and 3pm;
* Where the persons accused were between 10-16 years old - no time restraint given;
* Where the persons accused were not subjected to any restriction of age or time.

Although the number of offenders who are excluded are relatively small, there is a multiplier effect and their impact on volume crime is significant.

Schools have a part to play in diverting young people from crime. It would appear that some, perhaps through pressure from league tables, even exclude pupils for truanting. What alternatives are there?
Some initiatives intended to reduce exclusion
A variety of programmes and initiatives are in existence intended to reduce the levels of exclusion:

* School support programmes;
* Individual based programmes;
* Specific programmes.

The first two categories are those normally led by other agencies where police could become involved, in partnership. The third category often involves crime prevention as an aim and usually has some form of police involvement.

Such programmes include basic vehicle maintenance (which can lead to a City and Guilds qualification), drug issues and mentoring, just to name a few.

Other programmes involve training through a Further Education college and work experience. There is also considerable scope here for the involvement of the youth service.

Although most of these initiatives are dealing with small numbers, there are early indications of positive outcomes.

Other relevant initiatives involving police
In addition to a range of enforcement strategies, there are the following:

* Refocusing our Schools Involvement Programme where police officers give classroom inputs on such issues as personal safety, crime and its consequences and drugs, by enhancing our support for the whole school community;
* Working with schools with the view to minimising exclusion and truancy;
* Developing and supporting partnerships with youth organisations and other agencies to prevent youth offending;
* Drug/arrest referral schemes - linking drug dependent prolific offenders to effective treatment;
* Piloting several initiatives following the enactment of the Crime and Disorder Act this year.

Additionally, the cautions we were able to offer young offenders have been formalised. A reprimand constitutes a first caution where the offender may receive some information about appropriate local diversionary activities. A warning constitutes a second caution where the offender is given the option to take part in such diversionary activities. The officer conducting these cautions completes a 'risk assessment' form on each offender which will assist the newly formed multi-agency Youth Offender Teams in determining the le vel of diversionary activity or intervention required. Following the warning, no further cautions can be offered; therefore further offending will result in prosecution.

Under this final item, some of these initiatives include involvement in piloting child safety and parenting orders, child curfews, drug treatment and testing orders and initiatives involving reparation and mediation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the levels of truancy and exclusions from school continue to give cause for concern. Nevertheless, we must accept that there are occasions when exclusion, even permanent exclusion, is completely appropriate, there being no other alternative to some extreme behaviour.

There is also no doubt that those in both categories are vulnerable and at high risk of offending.
Much is being done by many agencies, both to establish the extent of the problem, and to address the range of causes, with the police service playing their part. Further efforts are needed by all concerned.

There really are options, options, other than crime, for these young people, some of which I have indicated today. After all, every young person has much to offer, if only it can be channelled constructively and before they become at risk of offending.