Public needs to know best ways to protect children, says IGP

KUALA LUMPUR: Crime cannot be normalised in society and the public must know the best ways to protect victims, especially children.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said one of the main aims of the police is to stop crimes involving children.

"The entire community needs to step forward and act against offenders, as well as protect each other," he said when contacted.

He was responding to a media statement from the Statistics Department that showed that the number of children involved in crime showed a 12.8% decrease last year (3,013 cases) compared to 2021 (3,457 cases).

The statistics, however, also showed that the number of sexual crime cases involving children increased by 9.5% in 2022 with 1,621 cases as compared to 1,481 cases in 2021.

"We view crime awareness campaigns as an important initiative so that all parties play a role in curbing crime," said Razarudin.

"So the target groups, especially children, parents and community members need to know the elements that open up space for crimes against children, the risks that exist around children and the methods and actions to be taken by various parties to protect children.

"It can also be used to increase self-control in children," he said, adding these campaigns were one of the initiatives used to reduce crimes involving children.

He said increasing such campaigns would also highlight the importance of protecting children against being victims of crime through cooperation with various parties.

"These campaigns can also be used to share current crime trends and instil a responsibility to report crime while also increasing awareness on the after-effects from a legal point of view.

"Moving forward, the police with the cooperation of government and non-governmental agencies would look at evolving crime trends involving children as well as identify the causes of why they are easily exploited," he said.