Youth Diversion Scheme

One of the aims of the Youth Diversion Scheme (YDS) is to discourage young people from getting involved in crime in the first place. This means that YDS officers will monitor nuisance behaviour and take action to make sure it doesn’t go any further. However if a young person has committed a crime the police will take into account a number of factors, including the seriousness of the offence, whether or not there is an admission of guilt, previous offending history, etc., in deciding how to deal with it. There are three possible outcomes:

• an informed warning;
• a restorative caution; or
• referral for prosecution.