According to the East Anglia Daily Times the MP for Clacton, Douglas Carswell is angry with his local Police force because they are not locking up sufficient young people under the age of 16. He appears to have based his opinions on a Freedom of Information Request that reveals that over the last five years the number of children and juveniles locked up has reduced by around a third.

2008/9 – 3558

2009/10 –  3200

20010/11 – 2121

2011/12 – 1609

20012/13 – 1218

One might imagine that having been presented with this data that he would apply a bit of scrutiny to the figures and ask for evidence that this reflected a reduction in crime, or at least that crime levels are no higher than they were in 2008/9. Assuming that this is the case he would then congratulate the Police and their partners on an effective use of public money and wisdom, as custody costs you and me a lot of money and has the potential to wreck lives. However Mr Carswell does not appear to be that sort of politician. He takes the view that if the Police locked up 3558 children and juveniles in 2008/9 that the youth of Essex should continue to be locked up at this level for evermore.

As much as I might wish it to be different, I accept that there will always be a need to hold some young people against their will for periods of time, as much to protect the young people concerned as for the good of society. However no one benefits if an act of foolishness carried out by a child or juvenile that can be resolved without custody, is instead dealt with by the state in a heavy handed manner just to satisfy the likes of Mr Carswell. It is clear from the story that the Police are not simply passing the problem on, but they are actually working very hard to tackle the causes of crime and this is showing that we can reduce crime and reduce the use of prison at the same time. Sadly our nation still criminalises far too many young people, and whilst the immediate reason may well be their behaviour, a criminal record is a great deal easier to gain than to lose. There is an adage that is sometimes used about prison when it comes to violent and serious crimes, which suggests that the criminal should be locked up and the key thrown away. My own view is that in the case of many young people we should do what we can to avoid custodial sentences and if this means that we lock an empty cell and throw away the key, that might be the best decision we could take in a civilised nation. The issue of preventative activity reducing youth offending is not new. In 1907 William Gladstone spoke about it in the Commons, suggesting that the Probation Service should be put to work to reduce offending by young people as a better investment by the state than using the birch or prison. But Gladstone was a Liberal and that is not an epithet that one could apply to Mr Carswell.