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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
Time: 11:19 pm
Time: 11:19 pm
Results for children in police detention
1 results foundAuthor: Children's Commissioner for England Title: A Night in the Cells: Children in police custody and the provision of non-familial appropriate adults Summary: While the numbers have fallen sharply in recent years, more than 83,000 children aged 10 - 17 years continue to be arrested and held in detention at the police station in England each year. Although ten is the legal minimum age at which an arrest can be made, latest figures indicate that in the year ending March 2016, 90 children below that age were subject to arrest before the police determined that they were too young to be held criminally liable. Children in police custody are extremely vulnerable for a range of reasons. The environment is one intended for adult offenders and is unsuited to meet the very different needs of children who come to police attention. Children experience time differently from adults, and the, sometimes lengthy, periods spent in a police cell will feel considerably longer for those who are younger. Importantly, there is considerable evidence that children who come to the attention of the youth justice system have disproportionate experiences of various forms of disadvantage and by this measure are more vulnerable than the general population. Finally, research confirms that children are more suggestible than adults, and more likely to admit to acts which they have not committed. The Code of Practice associated with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), which governs the treatment of suspects in police detention, acknowledges that children may be 'particularly prone in certain circumstances to provide information that may be unreliable, misleading or self-incriminating'. For such reasons, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Probation has termed children in police detention as 'the most vulnerable of the vulnerable and least able to represent their own interests'. Police stations rarely have dedicated provision that allows children to be held in a distinct environment from that for adults, but the legislative framework does recognise the particular vulnerabilities of young suspects. PACE requires that, wherever a child is arrested, the police should inform an 'appropriate adult' (AA) and request that they attend the police station to see the detainee. Until 2013, the requirement for the police to ensure the attendance of an AA applied to children aged 16 years or younger but, in that year, the duty was extended to encompass 17 year-olds. In the majority of cases, the child's parent or carer will act as the AA but, where such family members are unable or unwilling to attend, or are precluded from acting in that capacity, a range of other persons may act in this role. The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 places a duty on the local authority, in conjunction with a range of statutory partners, to ensure provision of persons to perform the role of a non-familial AA where this is required. Such provision may be delivered in a variety of ways including: a service provided in-house using either paid staff or volunteers; a commissioned out service either through the private sector or not-for-profit providers. The legislation also recognises that wherever possible children should not remain in police cells overnight. Where children are refused bail after having been charged, there is a statutory requirement that, other than in exceptional circumstances, they are transferred to local authority accommodation pending their court appearance, rather than detained at the police station. Details: London: The Children's Commissioner, 2017. 13p., technical appendix Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 17, 2018 at: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/publication/a-night-in-the-cells/ Year: 2017 Country: United Kingdom URL: https://www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk/publication/a-night-in-the-cells/ Shelf Number: 152983 Keywords: Children in Police DetentionJuvenile Detention Juvenile Offenders |