West Mercia child arrests fall by 77 per cent

The statistics show that the police force, which covers Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire, made 1,247 child arrests in 2016.

Black, Asian and minority ethnic children accounted for 14 per cent (175) of all child arrests by West Mercia Police last year, which was significantly below the national average of 26 per cent.

Across England and Wales, police forces made fewer than 88,000 arrests of children in total last year – down from almost 250,000 in 2010. BAME children accounted for 26 per cent of all child arrests.

The figures were obtained by the national charity Howard League for Penal Reform through a freedom of information request.

West Mercia Police Deputy Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman said: “West Mercia Police seeks to protect all members of its communities from harm and we aim to treat everyone fairly and with respect, regardless of background or age.

“When investigating allegations involving any young person we aim to strike a careful balance between arriving at the right outcome for the victim whilst ensuring that any arrest that is made as part of the investigation is only made if it is absolutely necessary.

“The total number of arrests of children by West Mercia Police has fallen by 77 per cent since 2010 as our officers seek to ensure a proportionate approach is taken in response to allegations.

“We recognise that the police should not seek to criminalise young people unnecessarily as can be seen by the reduction in arrests we have made.

“We take the issues raised seriously and we are not complacent. We are continually looking to improve our service to our communities, including our approach to dealing with incidents involving children and young people and we will continue to strive to continuously improve and use best practice from other forces.”

The figures show the Metropolitan Police recorded the highest proportion of BAME child arrests in 2016, at 60 per cent.

The Howard League, which has led a successful campaign to reduce child arrests, has analysed its figures following the findings of the Lammy Review, an independent review of the treatment of, and outcomes for, BAME individuals in the criminal justice system.

The Lammy Review, chaired by Tottenham MP David Lammy, called for a principle of “explain or reform” to apply to every institution in the criminal justice system.

Frances Crook, chief executive of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said: “The Howard League is proud to have played a key role in reducing child arrests across England and Wales.

“Working together with the police, we have ensured that tens of thousands of children will have a brighter future and not be dragged into a downward spiral of crime and custody.

“There is still more work to do, however, and the disproportionate number of BAME children being brought into the system is of great concern.

“It raises serious questions about decision-making throughout the criminal justice journey – from the police’s decision to arrest, to the remand and sentencing decisions of the youth courts.

“The Lammy Review has called on police forces and other criminal justice agencies to either explain disparities or reform. Our analysis of child arrests data is intended to assist this discussion.”

The first recommendation of the Lammy Review is that a more consistent approach to recording data on ethnicity should be agreed across the criminal justice system.

The Howard League says that such an approach is required as recording practices varied between police forces, often significantly.

The charity says BAME populations vary in size from police force area to police force area, and a lack of population data, specifically in relation to boys and girls aged 10 to 17, makes it difficult to assess whether forces are making a disproportionately high number of BAME child arrests.