Now ‘soft’ police quiz young thugs at home, not down the station
A POLICE force is interviewing young offenders at their homes rather than taking them into custody.
Superintendent Kevin Purcell of West Mercia Police said officers should treat under-17s as victims rather than criminals and avoid locking them up where possible.
Youngsters dealt with ‘sensitively’ were more inclined to engage with police while those put in a cell were more likely to reoffend, he said.
But while some groups welcomed the approach, people living in the area accused police of soft justice.
Mr Purcell admitted some may see the approach as ‘soft’ but insisted it was the right response.
He said more often than not, vulnerable children were forced to commit crimes by adults and they needed help and support rather than punishment. Mr Purcell said: ‘The approach now is the child will be interviewed about what they did, why they did it and then referred to the appropriate court or for caution.
‘Officers are required to assess the need to bring a child into custody. They would be interviewed under caution at their home address or another suitable location. We won’t bring them into custody generally. However, for the most serious offences, custody is necessary.’
He added: ‘We have to consider how we better engage with children who we believe are the victim, and how we treat children who have committed crime whether it be low level or more serious. Often adults push children into crime such as drug supply and prostitution.’
Mr Purcell said the police try to avoid taking children into custody as doing so is ‘counter-productive in the long term’.
His comments follow the arrest of a 13-year- old boy who went missing from his home in Wolverhampton after he had been recruited by drug dealers to carry narcotics. Police were able to reunite the teenager with his mother.
Mr Purcell said children in care were also more likely to be arrested for ‘bad behaviour’ that would typically be dealt with by parents and it was important to ensure they were treated in a ‘sympathetic and caring’ way.
Children between ten and 17 can be arrested if they commit a crime but there are a number of regulations on how they should be treated. At 18, they are treated as an adult.
Julie Browne, 45, a mother of three from Worcester, said: ‘ A few years ago my mum was mugged and had her handbag nicked by a 15-year-old boy.
‘The police arrested him and, I hope, treated him in the same way any other criminal would have been.
‘ I hate this softly, softly approach. No wonder young- sters have no respect for authority any more when even the police are too scared to give them a short, sharp shock.’
Guidance from the National Police Chiefs Council states officers should avoid criminalising children for behaviour which could be dealt with more appropriately by other means, as it was often a traumatic experience for young people.
Research by the Howard League for Penal Reform found police in England and Wales made 87,525 arrests of children aged 17 in 2016, down from almost 250,000 in 2010.
The charity, which works to keep children out of the criminal justice system, said this should be welcomed as it meant youngsters would not be dragged into a ‘downward spiral of crime and custody’.