A new approach should be taken to prevent young people from becoming ‘hardened criminals’, a North Yorkshire councillor has warned.
The deputy mayor for York and North Yorkshire has been warned that young people involved in antisocial behaviour are not facing sufficient consequences.
“We are seeing increasing incidents of gangs of young people, damaging property, antisocial behaviour and intimidation of other persons,” said Cllr Janet Jefferson at a meeting of the York and North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel on Wednesday, October 14.
“I’m asking you, can we reinstate the youth justice system to deter this behaviour before they become hardened criminals?”
She added: “In Scarborough some years ago, in youth justice, we had a special Saturday morning court hearing where youth offenders and their parents attended and, in some cases, a reparation order was issued to deter future offending, and it did work, I thought.
“At present, there appears to be no control or power over these young people. And I can give you instances which you will be aware of, including a former guest house that was completely wrecked by these people.”
Jo Coles, deputy mayor for policing, fire and crime, said that while the number of antisocial behaviour incidents in the Scarborough area had recently reduced, there were still serious issues to tackle.
She added: “Some of the things you’re talking about are not only antisocial behaviour, but they also are crimes in a much more serious sense.
“So, we mustn’t put everything in an antisocial basket when actually some of this stuff is much more serious than that. Criminal damage to someone’s property is not antisocial behaviour. It’s much more serious than that.”
Ms Coles said she had been working with partners throughout the summer to address concerns in coastal communities, including Eastfield, bringing together police, local authorities, youth justice services and other agencies.
Official figures show antisocial behaviour in North Yorkshire Police’s coastal command area had fallen by 13 per cent over the past two years, the meeting heard.
The deputy mayor also warned against “painting all young people with a bad brush” and emphasised the importance of multi-agency work and support programmes to offer support.
She stressed that preventing offending at an early stage was more effective than relying on enforcement alone.
“Prevention is best done outside of policing,” Ms Coles said.
“Once someone’s in touch with the police, in some ways you’re already at the wrong end of things.”
She told the meeting: “I also think it’s important to differentiate between young people and other types of offenders, because again, I think often young people get labelled as the causes of antisocial behaviour or particular incidents.
“Actually, sometimes it’s people with other problems, with drug and alcohol issues or other support needs that they might have, and sometimes it will be a very small minority of young people in the company of older adults who are leading the group of young people, so there might be all kinds of things at play.”
By: Anttoni James Numminen, LDRS
