Tackling youth crime in the Highlands

Highland Council is to consider a proposal to create a new service to address youth crime in the region. The proposal from Bill Alexander, head of children’s services, is for the appointment of three uniformed police youth co-ordinators to help divert offending young people from further offences.

An officer would work with each of the three council youth action teams to support the work being done with those youngsters who have offended once or twice, to stop that behaviour escalating to more persistent behaviour.

The officers would identify the children who are coming to the attention of the police for antisocial behaviour and offending concerns.

They would then work with the young person and their families to bring together agencies to ensure a focused approach to preventing further crimes.

Mr Alexander said in a statement: “This will enable a quicker, and more targeted approach. It will also allow social work staff and police officers to work more closely together to prevent youth crime.

“I believe this will be a unique partnership, as nothing quite like it exists elsewhere in Scotland.”

The proposal will involve funding being diverted from services previously run by the Sacro, the national community justice voluntary organisation.

Mr Alexander added: “Sacro have always been at a disadvantage in undertaking this work, as they are dependent on legal processes taking their course, before they can get information about young people who have offended or their victims.

“This new approach will enable a prompter and more effective response, and we still intend to use Sacro to support other work with offenders, including restorative interventions.”

Councillor Margaret Davidson said: “This is an encouraging initiative. The youth action teams have been very successful to date, and I believe that the direct involvement of police officers in their work will be reassuring for communities, and can only help further our work to turn young people away from offending.”

Chief Superintendent Bruce Duncan said: “We welcome the proposal to fund three additional police officers to form a multi-agency partnership with the council’s youth action teams.

“This complements the extensive work we are doing jointly with partners to address youth crime and would give us further opportunities to progress and develop proactive initiatives, such as youth diversionary activities within our communities across the Highlands.”