NCJ Number
238798
Date Published
May 2012
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This report presents an estimate of the proportion and number of police-recorded crimes committed by juveniles (ages 10-17) in England and Wales during 2009-2010.
Abstract
The report estimates that juveniles were responsible for 23 percent of police-recorded crime in 2009-2010, which was equivalent to approximately 1 million crimes. Estimates indicate that male juveniles were responsible for 20 percent of all police-recorded crime, and female juveniles were responsible for only 4 percent. Acquisitive offenses composed a greater proportion of crime by juveniles than by adults, and violent offenses constituted a higher proportion of crime committed by adults compared to crime committed by juveniles. The estimate of approximately1 in 4 incidents of police-recorded crime attributable to juveniles is a disproportionate amount of crime for this age group, since this age group is composes 1 in 10 of the general population. This finding shows the importance of addressing crime by juveniles as a means of reducing overall crime levels. This study used data on proven offending as recorded in the Police National Computer, which contains key information on the age of proven offenders. An adjustment was made to account for potential bias in this data related to age differences in offending that involved more than one perpetrator. 11 tables, 5 figures, and 10 references