ARRESTS of children by Warwickshire Police have been reduced by 64 per cent over the last decade, according to new figures released by a penal reform charity.
The Howard League for Penal Reform has revealed Warwickshire Police made 505 child arrests in 2020, down from 1,419 in 2010 – the year the Howard League began its campaign to reduce child arrests and ensure that hundreds of thousands of youngsters do not have their lives blighted by a criminal record.
The charity cites academic research which shows that each contact a child has with the criminal justice system drags them deeper into it, leading to more crime.
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. Warwickshire 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.”
Data provided by police forces across England and Wales 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.
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.
The Howard League asked police forces to provide figures broken down by age, gender and ethnicity. Detailed analysis of the data will be published later this year.
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 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.
