Strong decline in young crime suspects
In 2014, 73 thousand young people between the ages of 12 and 25 (2.4 percent of the total youth population) were registered as suspects of a criminal offence. This is a decline of 43 percent since 2007. One third of all registered suspects in 2014 were young, down from 39 percent in 2007.
Most young suspects in 2014 were registered in The Hague: 4.5 percent of the total number. The percentages in Rotterdam and Amsterdam were 4.1 and 3.9 respectively. Most small rural municipalities, e.g. in parts of the Green Heart area and in Overijssel province have a relatively minor share of young people as crime suspects.
Share of registered suspects in every 10 thousand young people (12 to 25 yrs) by municipality, 2014
The number of young suspects is closely related to the degree of urbanisation in a residential area. In most urbanised neighbourhoods, over 3 percent of the young population are suspects, versus an average of 1.6 percent in the least urbanised areas.
The percentage of registered suspects is generally much smaller among minors (12 to 18 years) than among young adults (18 to 25 years). In the highly urbanised areas, however, the majority of suspects are the minors, due to the proportionately high number of offenses against property that are committed by minors in these areas such as theft and vandalism.fact