Youth crime across Chatham-Kent dropped last year, but police say the young offenders are getting younger.
Chatham-Kent police (CKPS) statistics in the 2022 yearly report showed 155 criminal incidents involving local youths that lead to 35 youths being charged with a total of 77 criminal charges, roughly half of the number of charges laid against youth in 2021.
However, the average age of youth involved in crime went from 15.2 years old to 14.9 from 2021 to 2022.
"This lowering of age represents the trend observed by front line police officers that a younger demographic is engaging in criminal activity," police said.
The data showed that male youths account for 68.4 per cent of the criminal interactions with police.
The annual report noted that a 17-year-old was charged with 2nd degree murder, while the rest of the charges were for assault, sexual assault, mischief, sexual interference, and threats.
Police said officers responded to 1,487 incidents last year involving youth, a 12.5 per cent decrease compared to 2021. However, the majority of calls were non-criminal, such as family disputes.
The report also noted 2022 saw 18 diverted or community referrals with a 27 per cent increase in diverted, warned, and cautioned youth.
Police credit multi-partnered approaches to punitive action and progressive discipline when dealing with youth.
The report noted that police can also use in-house social workers at school to support "restorative measures" and provide troubled youth with "longer lasting curative action."
"CKPS remains optimistic and driven to guide our youth so they can transition into responsible, healthy adults," said the report.
Meanwhile, highly trained officers from the Critical Incident Response Team (CIRT) were deployed 218 times in 2022, an increase from 144 the previous year, according to Chatham-Kent police brass.
They said the team executed 14 high-risk warrants across the municipality and helped with a warrant at a home in London where 3.5 kilograms of cocaine was seized. The warrant was part of Project Monarch that lead to several arrests and a significant seizure of drugs, weapons, and stolen property.
Police statistics showed CIRT officers responded to 119 weapons calls last year, almost double the number in 2021, and 19 search and rescue calls, nine more than the previous year.
Officials also noted the full CIRT squad had to be deployed six times last year for three missing persons and three weapons calls, which concluded with all of the missing persons safely located and arrests from all of the weapons calls.
Officers from the team also helped with crowd management at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor during last year's protest.
