Youth Page

YOUTH STRATEGY

This Strategy is based on the ACPO youth strategy, “It’s never too early; it’s never too late”, on existing draft strategies, and on the findings of the Thames Valley Police Youth Offending Team review 2003. It has also been informed by the Green Paper ‘Every Child Matters’, as a result of which its overall aim is “to safeguard young people and promote their well being.”

The Criminal Justice System is experiencing sweeping changes. It is acknowledged that these will impact on the Strategy, which must include scope to be adapted as new structures and legislation come on line.

The strategy is in six parts:

Engaging with Children and Young People
Children and Young People as victims and witnesses
Pre-crime prevention – helping those in need
Post-crime reduction – effective youth justice
Post-crime deterrence and detection: tackling serious and persistent offenders
Human resource development – towards a qualified workforce

The strategy is holistic. Links to other plans and departments are indicated. Every stakeholder should ensure that action plans exist to feed into this strategy.

Engaging with Children and Young People

The aim is to build and maintain positive relationships between all young people resident in or visiting Thames Valley and Thames Valley Police.

Objectives

Ensure all police officers and staff treat young people with understanding and respect
Identify gaps in existing TVP and TVP Police Authority surveys relating to the views of young people and ensure that future surveys properly reflect the views of young people, including those in hard to reach groups and ethnic minorities
Establish a dialogue with young people which will ensure that their views properly inform local policing strategies
Engage with existing schemes for young people including Youth Parliaments
With partners, support local initiatives that promote the well-being and positive development of children, young people, their families and communities, based on identified needs

Children and Young People as victims and witnesses

The aim is to provide young people, their parents and carers, with appropriate guidance to help them avoid crime and disorder and ‘stay safe’; to provide an environment which encourages young people who are victims or witnesses to feel confident about reporting crime and disorder; and to deal effectively with any crime and disorder which they may experience.

Objectives

Ensure that the welfare of the child or young person is the paramount consideration in any investigation and that wherever possible and appropriate their parents or carers are fully involved and consulted.
Respond appropriately where a child or young person is identified as being at risk of harm, and to ensure that information sharing with partner agencies in such cases is rapid, comprehensive and lawful.
Continue to take a lead in Area Child Protection Committees (or Local Safeguarding Children Boards, when implemented)
Use a Restorative Justice approach to identify and work with ‘at risk’ young people in the schools system
Support good citizenship programmes in schools.
Provide an environment in which more children and young people feel safe to report anti-social behaviour or crime which they have suffered or witnessed
In particular, to offer the best possible support to young people who are the victims or witnesses of domestic violence.
Ensure that standards are in place and are adhered to when interviewing young victims and witnesses and that they are supported fully through any subsequent Criminal Justice process to reduce the adverse effects of crime and prevent secondary victimisation
With our partners in the Criminal Justice system, promote a shared vision of victim and witness care, with clarity about who is responsible for action.
With our partners in the Criminal Justice system, maximise the use of special measures at Crown Court and in the Youth Court to protect children and young persons as vulnerable witnesses.

Pre-crime prevention – helping those at risk

Aim

To ensure appropriate measures are in place to support young people at greatest risk of becoming involved in anti-social behaviour or criminality.

Objectives

Ensure TVP utilises a corporate policy for information sharing which is consistent and in line with ACPO guidance and to ensure that this policy informs effective partnership working.
Work with partners to ensure information regarding children at high risk is shared rapidly, consistently and legally
Engage fully in the ‘Information, Referral and Tracking’ projects in the Thames Valley area and ensure a corporate approach is taken to recording all contacts with children and young people
Ensure that all officers involved in youth issues maintain a strong working relationship with each other and with the YOT and other relevant partner agencies
Target police resources within a co-ordinated partnership framework to reassure, support and deal effectively with children and young people who are at highest risk of becoming involved in anti-social behaviour or criminality
In particular, to ensure young people identified as at high risk of drug or alcohol abuse receive appropriate education and support
Work with partners to achieve and publicise results in respect of anti-social behaviour
Ensure TVP utilises a standard approach to Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders
Work with partners in the education system to educate children and young people on the potential consequences of their actions and to divert ‘at risk’ young people away from anti-social behaviour and crime
Continue to support police officers using Restorative Justice principles in schools
Work with other partners, for example Connexions, to achieve shared targets

Post-crime deterrence and reduction – effective youth justice

Aim

To deal quickly, effectively and consistently with all children and young people within the youth justice system, and to ensure policing responses are appropriately graduated towards those young offenders who are at highest risk of further anti-social behaviour or criminality.

Objectives

Liaise with Youth Justice Board and ACPO (YIG) in respect of youth issues
Ensure charging scheme policy and practice is consistent with Home Office/Youth Justice Board guidance
Continue to use a Restorative Justice approach to all children and young people initially entering the criminal justice
system
Implement Penalty Notices (Disorder) for young people and monitor their use
Via the Local Criminal Justice Board, produce clear standards for the processing of young offenders through the youth
justice system from the point of arrest
Ensure that young people identified as at risk of misuse of drugs or alcohol are referred for appropriate treatment
Participate appropriately in the activities of Youth Offending Teams and ISSPs
Engage in information exchange with YOTs and ISSPs which will facilitate intelligence led policing under the National
Intelligence Model (best practice - crime reduction)
Work with partners to ensure appropriate responses and resources are in place, at each stage of the youth justice process, to meet the identified needs of each individual offender and victim, and to provide positive opportunities for rehabilitation in the community.
Continue to raise awareness of value of restorative justice within TVP and among its partners.

Post-crime deterrence and detection: tackling serious and persistent offenders

Aim

To target ‘spree offenders’ and Persistent Young Offenders by intelligence-led policing and multi-agency partnerships.

Objectives

Identify and track ‘spree offenders’ and Persistent Young Offenders by rapid data sharing amongst key agencies
To ensure targeting of ‘spree offenders’ and Persistent Young Offenders is a local objective in all areas
Develop tasking meetings with YOTs to optimise intelligence links and focus on current offenders and to agree conditions on those about to be released from YOI

With partner agencies, ensure that the time from arrest to sentence for children and young people meets Government standards
Work with partners to ensure appropriate responses are in place, at each stage of the youth justice process, to meet the identified needs of each individual ‘spree offender’/Persistent Young Offender, to break their cycle of offending behaviour and provide positive opportunities for rehabilitation in the community for them and their victims
Encourage the use of Restorative Justice approaches with this group of offenders
With partners, develop and promote the use of ISSP as an alternative to custody

Human resource development – towards a qualified workforce

Aim

To ensure all officers and staff in contact with children and young people have all appropriate training to meet National Standards and ensure delivery of quality services.

Objectives

Define what the organisation expects of its staff when delivery services to and for young people in accordance with ACPO guidance
Seek local methods to implement training requirements for officers and police staff working with young people
Ensure that a support structure exists for officers and staff posted to multi-agency partnerships (Youth Offending Teams), and to ensure that all such personnel receive all appropriate training
Ensure training received by officers posted to YOTs is recorded on staff records and acknowledged in PDRs
Ensure appropriate training/awareness raising occurs for all staff at all levels of recent changes in the youth justice system

CJS working together for the public

Thames Valley

Youth Page

YOUTH STRATEGY

Engaging with Children and Young People

Objectives

Links

Children and Young People as victims and witnesses

Objectives

Links

Pre-crime prevention – helping those at risk

Aim

Objectives

Links

Post-crime deterrence and reduction – effective youth justice

Aim

Objectives

Links

Post-crime deterrence and detection: tackling serious and persistent offenders

Aim

Objectives

Links

Human resource development – towards a qualified workforce

Aim

Objectives

Links