Crime figures down - It’s because the kids are alright

Sunday 14 August 2016

Retired Magistrate Ian Le Marquand says it is Jersey’s youth who are primarily responsible for the Island’s dwindling crime figures.

The Express revealed last week that crime across all sectors is down 7% year on year, a sharp fall which Mr Le Marquand says can be explained, in part, to the decline in youth criminality.

And he should know, as he served as a Magistrate for nine years from 1999-2008 and has spent all of his adult life connected with crime and its prevention.

“I think the really interesting thing about these figures is the fact that youth crime is clearly declining,” he said. “Since my time as a Magistrate and as Minister for Home Affairs until 2014, that has been the area which has shown a big change. Youth crime in a sense fuels further crime and the fact that it is falling so significantly is having a knock-on effect.

“In my time the courts were pretty busy with offenders aged between 14-17, but that is happily becoming less and less the case. Put simply, if you are not committing crime in your teenage years and early twenties then the chances of you committing crime in your later adult years are markedly reduced. That is the key here. Fewer youngsters are turning to crime and that is having an effect on the figures for overall crime. 

“I think the police have been very good in getting the crime figures down in recent years and they have worked in combination with a whole host of organisations to bring this change about.”

Mr Le Marquand is full of praise for current police chief Mike Bowron, who he says has led a crusade against crime in Jersey. 

“I think we are very fortunate to have a fantastic police chief and his assistants are also very, very good. The police force is functioning so much better than it once did. They are having a very strong effect on crime figures. I heard a story a while ago that they even sent Christmas cards to those regular criminals who they have targeted saying ‘Thinking of you at Christmas.’ This sort of strong response to crime and especially frequent criminals is exactly the right policy and it has had the desired effect.”

Mr Le Marquand was an Advocate from 1977-1990, Chief Clerk to the Courts from 1990-97, Master of the Royal Court 1997-99 and Magistrate from 1999-2008. After that he was Minister for Home Affairs from 2008-14. 

“I’m one of very few people in Jersey who can legitimately say crime DOES pay, because in my case it did,” he said. 

“I think another factor in the declining figures for crime are the sentencing policies in our courts. It is fair to say sentencing for general crime in Jersey is tougher than you would find on the mainland. That may also persuade some people who are thinking about committing crime to think again. 

“In my experience shoplifters are not routinely sent to prison in the UK, but repeat offenders in Jersey are certainly put inside. 

“I think the sentencing for drugs offences is also tougher here than in the UK and again, that may have an effect on crime figures. Drug users can turn to crime to feed their habit and a spin-off from less drug use would be a drop in things like burglary and theft from shops.”

After his many years as a Magistrate, Mr Le Marquand has an experienced handle on the types of crime which were once commonplace and are now almost unheard of. 

“Cheque fraud was a particularly big crime but that is almost non-existent nowadays. As is hot-wiring cars and driving them without permission as new cars cannot be hot-wired.

“Overall though, I would say the really significant reasons for crime going down is that it is declining sharply amongst the youth and also drug-related crime is on the decrease. That is because of a whole variety of reasons but essentially it involves all parties working together to guide so-called ‘problem’ families into a life which does not involve crime.”