In examining trends in youth crime, significant decreases are evident in the issuance of Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) among young people.
There were also 2,883 Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) given to 16-17 year olds in 2012/13 and in 20125 there were 273 Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) given to young people. In the last year, the number of PNDs issued to young people has decreased by 46 per cent and the number of ASBOs issued decreased by 27 per cent.
There were 30,778 reprimands, warnings or conditional cautions given to young people in England and Wales in 2012/13. This is a decrease of 26 per cent on the 41,343 given in 2011/12, and a decrease of 64 per cent on the 86,469 given in 2002/03.
In 2011/12 there were 1,235,028 arrests for notifiable offences in England and Wales, of which 167,995 were of people aged 10-17 years. These 10-17 year olds accounted for 13.6 per cent of all the arrests and 10.8 per cent of the population of England and Wales of offending age
The number of under-18s convicted or cautioned over violent offences rose from 17,590 to 24,102 - an increase of 37 per cent.
Risk factors
Community poverty
Peers
delinquent peer group; high proportion of unsupervised time spent with peers School Low attainment; low commitment/truancy; aggressive behaviour and bullying; exclusions; school disorganisation
Family
poor parental supervision; harsh or erratic discipline; family conflict; parental criminality; low family income
Individual
Law
Sentences
If a child or young person has committed a first or second minor offence, a system of Reprimands and Final Warnings can be used by the police. If the police do decide to take formal action then this will consist of, in the first place, an interview with the young person, accompanied by an “appropriate adult”. This may or may not be followed by further action, depending on the outcome of investigation and the seriousness of the offence.
