Millions Spent On Finding Missing Youngsters

More than £2 million was spent in 2019 and 2020 on police investigations for missing young people.

One person alone cost the taxpayer £236,000.

That has been revealed in the latest Jersey Police annual report, which covers 2019 and 2020.

There were 758 reports of missing youngsters in 2020. More than a quarter of those reports were for just two people.

The majority had gone missing from care homes.

Last April, the Jersey Care Commission raised concerns about the number of 'missing from care episodes', reporting that one care home reported 143 incidents in 2020.

835 missing reports were made in total in Jersey in 2020, an increase of 17% from the previous year.

Just over a quarter of all recorded crimes in Jersey during 2020 were committed by young people.

Of the 545 crimes carried out by those aged 18 and under, 40% were done by under-13s.

40% of malicious damage crimes were also committed by youngsters.

There were 884 known victims of crime in Jersey 2020. 141 of them were young people.

Like the rest of the island, policing was heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

There were no crimes recorded on three separate days during December 2020, which is the first time that has ever happened in Jersey.

The months of April and December 2020 had the lowest crime totals on record.

The island was in lockdown in April and faced a second wave of Covid in December.

2020 had the second-lowest number of recorded crime figures since the States of Jersey Police started electronic recording.

It was down 10% on the 2017 to 2019 average.

Common assault was the most recorded crime, followed by malicious damage to vehicles and anti-social behaviour.

196 offences were committed in town at night during 2020, compared to 318 in 2019. That's a drop of 38%.

During April and December 2020, when the island was essentially locked down, there were just four recorded offences in St Helier at night.

Response times were slower in 2020 compared to 2019.

Grade One response times were down by an average of 20 seconds, with Grade Two response times around two minutes slower.

136 sexual offences were recorded in 2020 - a fall of 59 on 2019.

49 of them were against children. 14 involved victims under the age of 13.

Only 14 of the 136 offences resulted in court appearances.

80 complaints relating to hate crime were received by the States of Jersey Police in 2020 - which is the third-highest yearly total since 2000.

71 victim-based hate crimes were recorded. 60% of them were of a racial nature.

Jersey Police launched an island-wide campaign in 2019 to increase islanders' understanding of hate crime.

There was a spike in mental health incidents reported to Jersey Police in 2020.

It went up from 635 in 2019 to 1,034 the following year - an increase of 63%.

Welfare incidents also shot up by 72%.

There were 44 recorded assaults against officers in 2020, compared to 24 in 2019 and 33 in 2018.

SOJP Chief Robin Smith says he's still as excited about the force as he was on his first day.

"It’s been a remarkable roller-coaster journey and one I would have not missed for the world. And as we slowly come out of the shadow of the pandemic my focus is and always will be to catch criminals, protecting vulnerable people and get there quickly when you need us – a simple mission backed up by a team of dedicated professionals.

Jersey, my new home, is a lovely place to live, work and visit and I am determined to ensure it stays that way."