KEY POINTS:
One in seven police arrests last year involved youth offenders, according to the first annual report on youth justice.
The report, Youth Justice Statistics in New Zealand 1992-2006, was released yesterday by the Ministry of Justice. It highlights trends in arrests, prosecutions, convictions and sentencing of people aged 14 to 16 years.
It also shows Maori youth arrests were more than three times those of Pakeha and twice those of Pacific peoples, given population differences.
More young males are offending. During the period 1995-2006 between 77 and 80 per cent of all young people apprehended were male.
Last year there were 30,451 arrests of people in the 14-16 age group. That equated to about one in seven across all age groups of a total of 203,484 arrests.
Between 1995 and last year the number of arrests in the age group remained stable at about 31,000 each year.
Given that the number of people in the age group has risen from 160,840 in 1995 to 191,450 last year - a 19 per cent increase - the apprehension rate actually declined over the period.
The report said that most arrests in the age group were either Pakeha or Maori.
It said about the same of number of Pakeha and Maori were arrested each year between 1998 and 2003. Before 1998 and after 2003 there tended to be slightly more apprehensions of Maori youth.
Similar numbers of Maori and Pakeha young people aged 14 to 16 were apprehended each year for non-traffic offences.
"However, Maori youth comprise less of the New Zealand population than young NZ Europeans do," the report said.
"For this reason, the Maori apprehension rate is more than twice the Pacific peoples' apprehension rate and nearly three times that of the NZ European or other group."
It said while the apprehension rates for Pacific peoples had fallen from 2001, the arrest rate last year showed a slight increase on 2005.
Of the 30,451 youth arrests recorded last year:
* 29 per cent were prosecuted, although only a portion of those resulted in a charge proven or a conviction.
* 39 per cent were dealt with by Police Youth Aid.
* 23 per cent were issued with a formal warning.
* 6 per cent were referred to CYF and 3 per cent were resolved by other means.
The figures in the report were sourced from police and Statistics NZ.
New Zealand First MP Ron Mark said the figures confirmed his party's belief that violent youth crime was rising and that the youth justice system was failing in crucial areas.
"In the last two years, violent youth offending has increased by 39 per cent while the number of cases transferred to the district court or High Court for trial and/or sentencing has dropped from 11 per cent in 2003 to 5 per cent in 2006," he said.
"How is this possible?"
Mr Mark said the report was deficient.
"The causes and effects of youth offending don't begin at 14 and stop at 16," he said.
- NZPA
