New Police Force to Target Underage Criminals

Iran’s head of the law and information at the Police Security Forces (NAJA) announced on June 6 that plans were underway to establish a “juvenile” unit to deal specifically with crimes committed by minors. 

Jamshid Ra’d said the plans were being developed in line with a new criminal investigation law currently being drafted by the judiciary “in cooperation with legal experts and intelligence officials working in the country’s security forces.”

“Based on Article 31 [which deals with the execution of a punishment in line with private claims, as opposed to crimes against national security or other offences], this special department will use the knowledge and experience of specialists in the fields of law, psychology and social science to deal with juvenile matters,” Ra’d said, according to a report by by Mehr News Agency. He said specific and relevant training would be provided for officers.

Though Ra’d and other officials did not specify what particular crimes the special unit would focus on, they did say that the new initiative was being created to help ensure first-time offenders did not re-offend.

The new unit will begin operations in mid-July.

Read the original article in Persian