Page 67 - JUSTICE Tackling Racial Injustice - Children and the Youth Justice System

3.23 This is an exercise that the IOPC carries out as part of its ongoing work, which
enables it to consult those affected, as well as the wider community, on any
investigation and issue regular updates.

3.24 In addition to improving engagement, mapping will also allow services to be
more targeted and effective. For instance, following a YJB requirement to
address disproportionality in their youth justice plan, Buckinghamshire YOS
decided to map the demographics of the local area. This allowed
Buckinghamshire YOS to identify that it was mixed race children from a
specific area that were experiencing the biggest difficulties. Following this
mapping, Buckinghamshire YOS intends to design interventions that target
this particular group.

3.25 This is an approach we consider to be particularly beneficial to police forces.
By fully understanding the community demographic, and where concerns can
be raised and investigated properly, relationships between BAME people and
the police could improve. Similar to GRT liaison officers, these programmes
should not be concerned with investigating crime, but relationship building,
and should help improve understanding of cultural concerns. 192

Problem-solving approaches

3.26 BAME individuals are more likely to be sentenced to immediate custody for
drug offences than White people. 193 Moreover, BAME children are more likely
to receive a custodial sentence 194 and are given unduly harsher sentences than
their White counterparts. 195 Such data alone is insufficient to definitively

192 For example, we consider it would be beneficial to consult organisations such as 100 Black Men and
Manhood Academy, among others.
193 A. Isaac, ‘Investigating the association between an offender’s sex and ethnicity and the sentence
imposed at the Crown Court for drug offences’ (Sentencing Council, July, 2020)
194 E.Cardale and P. Jooman ‘Assessing the impact and implementation of the Sentencing Council’s
Sentencing Children and Young People Definitive Guideline’ (Sentencing Council, November 2020).
195 See the recent Youth Justice Board report on, Ethnic disproportionality in remand and sentencing in
the youth justice system, January 2021, which finds that “Compared to White children, in almost all
cases, Black, Asian and Mixed ethnic groups were more likely to receive harsher sentences.
Disproportionality for children of Other ethnicities was only observed for out-of-court-disposals which
they were less likely to receive compared to White children.”

60