Child Arrests By Sussex Police Fall Two-Thirds Across Decade

Arrests by Sussex police of children aged under 17 have fallen by 68% in the decade between 2010 and 2020.

That's according to statistics released today (Monday, August 23) by the Howard League for Penal Reform.

The campaigning group calls it a "major step forward" in its work toward achieving a society with less crime, safer communities and fewer people in prison.

Howard League chiefs said this morning that they've been working with police forces across England and Wales to reduce child arrests, helping to ensure that hundreds of thousands of boys and girls do not have their lives blighted by a criminal record.

Sussex Police confirmed the lower numbers of arrests were part of a policy across the force to avoid criminalising younger people.

A spokesperson from the county's police service said:

"It reflects our ongoing work and commitment over recent years to avoid criminalising children and young people.

"In policing we understand that arresting a child can be very traumatic for that child and their family.

"We are trying to avoid doing that where we can, by using voluntary attendance to resolve offences committed by children and young people and, together with partner agencies, consider diversionary activities aimed at steering young people away from the criminal justice system.

"There will always be some occasions where arresting a child and young person is crucial to the investigation and cannot be avoided, however the force’s belief is that juvenile offenders should be treated as children first and foremost."

Data provided by police forces in general 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.

The figures continued what the group called a "positive trend" seen throughout the decade since 2010, when 245,763 arrests were recorded.

Sussex's reduction in child arrests has been mirrored nationwide.

Other figures released today showed that 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.

In exact figures, Sussex Police made 1,858 child arrests in 2020 according data obtained by the Howard League. 

This compares to 2,015 the year before and 5,779 in 2010, the year that the campaign began.

Academic research has shown that each contact a child has with the criminal justice system drags them deeper into it, leading to more crime.

The group said this is a prime reason behind why it's working to keep as many boys and girls as possible out of the system in the first place.

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.

"Sussex 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.”

Nine police forces recorded reductions of 20 per cent or more in 2020: Cheshire (24 per cent); Cumbria (33 per cent); Leicestershire (24 per cent); Merseyside (22 per cent); Norfolk (34 per cent); Nottinghamshire (31 per cent); South Wales (27 per cent); Suffolk (24 per cent); and British Transport Police (22 per cent).

The largest force, the Metropolitan Police, made 13,599 child arrests in 2020.

This was a 4 per cent reduction on the previous year and a 70 per cent reduction on 2010, when 46,079 arrests were recorded.

As in previous years, the Howard League said it asked police forces to provide figures broken down by age, gender and ethnicity.

Detailed analysis of the data will be published in a briefing 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 added that it saw 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.

More Radio has asked Sussex Police why it believes the figures have fallen so significantly, but also why a substantial increase was seen in 2019.

Child arrest figures for Sussex Police

• 2010: 5,779
•      |
• 2017: 1,893
• 2018: 1,766
• 2019: 2,015
• 2020: 1,858