The Howard League for Penal Reform has urged the UK police to end the practice of holding children in police cells overnight. The charity’s research revealed that in 2011 there were more than 40,000 detentions of children younger than 17. This amounts to approximately 112 detentions per night. The charity estimates that the true number is significantly higher, as a number of police services were unable to give figures. However the charity’s figures reveal that the number of children in detention is falling.
The Howard League is calling for the police to work more closely with parents and children to prevent children being caught in the criminal justice system.
Frances Crook, Chief Executive of the Howard League, said: “Holding children as young as ten in police cells overnight is unjustifiable. The vast majority of children who are locked up are innocent of any crime, and it is a frightening and intimidating experience which does more harm than good. ...Police are to be congratulated for the significant fall in the use of police cells in recent years. It is extravagantly expensive to detain children at a time of austerity, particularly when almost all of them are innocent, or have just been naughty and that behaviour can be dealt with quickly and safely by parents.”
A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Service acknowledged the detrimental effects of detention on children, saying “The service is extremely conscious they are vulnerable, and treats them accordingly whilst in its care...Children and young people will however inevitably end up being brought into custody, but only when their arrest is considered absolutely necessary.”
Click here to read a press release from Howard League for Penal Reform.
Click here to read an article from BBC News.
The issue of child detention has been controversial in recent months. Bulletin readers may recall that significant numbers of immigrant children are being detailed in the UK. 444 immigrant children have been held in detention since 2010.