Teenage criminals will be targeted and urged to avoid a life of crime under new guidelines published on Thursday by police chiefs bidding to cut anti-social behaviour.

Early detection of potential young offenders could have a "dramatic impact on cutting future youth crime", the Association of Chief Police officers believes.

Under new guidelines being issued to police forces across the country, young people will be asked to help develop crime policies, victims of crime will be given better support while high risk offenders will be targeted and asked to avoid developing an appetite for anti-social behaviour.

A new "neighbourhood policing youth tool kit" will be developed while existing programmes currently in place to tackle youth crime will be extended.

Legal and community groups will also be asked to develop initiatives that can help keep young people in school and off the streets.

The guidelines come in a week when Home Secretary Jacqui Smith found herself at the centre of a row over the government's record on crime after she told a Sunday newspaper that would not feel safe walking the streets of London late at night.

In an attempt to limit the damage, an aide said Smith had recently "bought a kebab in Peckham", a deprived area of south London.

Last week, three teenagers were convicted of murdering Gary Newlove, 47, who died in an attack outside his home in Cheshire after being set upon by drunken youths.

ACPO spokesman Roger Baker said early detection of potential young offenders could have a "dramatic impact on cutting future youth crime".

"While a small proportion of young people commit crime, some of them go on to become prolific offenders and cause great suffering and misery in our communities," the Chief Constable of Essex police said in a statement.

"It is vital that we have processes in place to identify these young people early in their criminal careers and develop the best youth justice practice to divert them from crime into more positive activities and lifestyles."

Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker welcomed the new guidelines.

"Only a small proportion of children and young people come into contact with the criminal justice system as offenders and we are committed to improving support for young victims and witnesses to tackle re-offending," he said in a statement.