Juvenile crimes decline in Shanghai

Juvenile crimes in Shanghai have been on a decline since 2007 but younger minds are increasingly turning to technology and coming up with innovative methods to commit Internet fraud and hacking, giving rise to cybercrimes, according to Labor Daily.

The paper quoted members of the Standing Committee of the Municipal People's Congress who had inputs from the law enforcement agencies on crimes committed by 18-year-old or below.

The report also said that over the years, crimes by non-local youth offenders had risen to as much as 80 percent.

Teenagers breaking the law had increased sharply between 2004 and 2007 with 2,682 cases reported alone in 2007 — the highest in the 30 years, the daily reported.

But the numbers gradually declined after that with 2,571 cases in 2008, and down to 1,045 in 2013, the daily reported.

Most of the juvenile crimes in Shanghai were about infringements of property or personal rights, as well as breach of social management order, such as robbery and larceny.

In 2011, cases of theft, robbery, aggravated assault, intentional injury and affray made up 85.7 percent of all youth offenders in the entire year.

Crimes by non-native young criminals have declined year-on-year since 2008, but their numbers are still high compared to the total number of crimes committed by juveniles, the newspaper said.

It meant that tracking and correction for non-native young offenders, who cannot be given jail terms, remains a huge task.

Shanghai's high court and office of community correction has provided equal juridical protection for the non-native offenders and locals by providing them opportunities in training centers and other solutions negotiated by relevant parties.

The government has also carried out diversified legal education activities and established a series of guidelines for prevention and control of juvenile crimes.

It has also developed a software for keeping a track on minor criminals. The software helps presidents of courts in districts and counties to keep a check on the behaviors of all juvenile offenders before they are 25 years old by connecting with community correction offices and teenagers protection departments.