ABSTRACT
The basis of social crime prevention with young offenders is the police caution, known as a warning in Scotland where, under Scots law, a caution has a different meaning. Since the early 1900s some police forces have used warnings for juvenile offenders, administered by senior, uniformed officers, in circumstances where the offender admitted his guilt, the police were satisfied that they had a case and the complainant did not insist on prosecution. During the early 1960s the value of attempting to keep juvenile offenders out of the criminal justice system became increasingly accepted, but it was not until the Children and Young Persons Act was passed that the police in England were given statutory authority for cautioning juvenile offenders as an alternative to taking them to court. The one and only juvenile liaison scheme in London was established at West Ham in 1961 and by 1969 there were 17 such schemes in England and Wales and 8 in Scotland.
