NEW data released by Devon and Cornwall Police as part of a Freedom of Information request from The Packet has shown how many kids under 18 have been arrested and for what offences. 

The data spans five years, from 2018 to the end of 2022, and details how many young people were arrested by Devon and Cornwall Police over that period, as well as the offences they were arrested for, their sex, and the most common outcomes. 

The data has been organised into several interactive infographics which you can explore below. 

Between 2018 and the end of 2022, 3,418 young people were arrested for a variety of offences by Devon and Cornwall Police. In the infographic above, you can explore the data for a specific age across each year by clicking on the ages in the top row. 

The highest number of arrests of young people of all ages was in 2022 when 790 10-17-year olds were arrested. This was followed by 2020 which saw a total of 718 young people arrested. According to the data, 666 were arrested in 2019, 641 in 2021, and 2018 saw 603 under 18s arrested. 

Across the five-year period, 222 of the young offenders were aged 13 or under. The youngest person across the five-year period was ten years old. 

The data also demonstrates that, across all five years, the vast majority of young people arrested were boys, with 2,716 of the 3,418 total being male. Girls made up 695 of those arrested across the period, with the remaining seven being classified in the data as 'Unknown'.

In every year, over three-quarters of those arrested were male, with 2020 seeing the highest number of arrests at 562. The same year also saw the highest number of girls arrested across the five-year period with 154. 

The year with the lowest number of arrests of both boys and girls was 2018. 

Young people were arrested for a total of 276 different offences between 2018 and the end of 2022, according to the data. In the infographic above, you can select an offence in the drop-down menu below the header to explore the data over the five-year period. You can also choose to select specific years by clicking on each year on the 'Year of arrest' section. 

Over the course of the five years, assault thereby occasioning actual bodily harm was the most common offence and showed an increase in the number of incidents year-on-year. 

The top ten most common offences and the number of incidents across the period were:

  1. Assault thereby occasioning actual bodily harm (346)
  2. Common Assault (228)
  3. Criminal damage under £5,000 (163)
  4. Assault by beating (143)
  5. Possession of cannabis (98)
  6. Affray (92) 
  7. Robbery (86)
  8. Drunk and disorderly/Possession of a knife blade or pointed article (82) 
  9. Grievous bodily harm with intent (79) 
  10. Theft from a shop/Rape of a girl aged 13, 14, 15 (68)

Of the arrests made over the period of time the data covers, 13 different outcomes were recorded. The most common of these across all five years was 'No further action' which was recorded for 2,091 of the offences. In total, 208 of the offences resulted in a charge.  

The year with the highest number of outcomes was 2020 with 718 recorded, followed by 687 in 2022 up to November 14 as no data past this date was available. Then comes 2019 with 666, 2021 with 641, and 2018 with 603 recorded outcomes.