The Ministry of the Interior is planning a three-tier strategy to combat a trend of growing adolescent crime, which would involve multiple agencies across different tiers, the ministry said during the weekly Executive Yuan meeting yesterday.
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) pledged to spend NT$7.6 billion (US$231.8 million) over four years until 2028 to prevent adolescent crime.
The ministry report said that adolescent crime over the past decade has grown, with most perpetrators aged between 15 and 18.
Photo courtesy of the Executive Yuan
Fraud is the primary type of crime among this group, the ministry said.
The proposed three-tier strategy aims to reduce how families, the economy and peers influence adolescents to commit criminal behavior.
“Adolescents aged 15 to 18 are more prone to joining criminal organizations if they do not continue their studies,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) quoted Cho as saying during the meeting.
He also instructed relevant agencies to track the whereabouts and performance of young people in an attempt to prevent them — especially those from disadvantaged families — from being involved with criminal organizations, she said.
Government agencies should step up measures to work together to ensure the policy’s realization, Lee quoted the premier as saying.
Cho tapped Vice Premier Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) and ministers without portfolio Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) and Shih Che (史哲) to work with competent authorities, and draft laws and regulations that would provide a legal basis for organizations to care for and offer consultation to adolescents, she said.
According to National Police Agency Deputy Director-General Chen Yung-li (陳永利), the first tier would focus on spreading information targeting adolescents to avoid criminal behaviors.
The second tier would focus on adolescents with a history of errant behavior and step up consultations or visits to their families to encourage them to support the individual in question, Chen Yung-li said.
The final tier would focus on young people with a criminal history and help protect them, he said.
Such measures would also offer correctional education to prevent them from becoming repeat offenders, he added.
Ultimately, the goal is to reduce the number of young people breaking the law by 1 percent each year, Chen Yung-li said.
Additional reporting by Chung Li-hua
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