SINGAPORE — In investigating cases involving young accused, the police try to avoid criminalising their conduct where possible, and to give them a second chance through rehabilitation, Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said. But the authorities’ relatively tolerant approach should not be seen as licence for young persons to commit crimes.

The minister was addressing the House in Parliament on Tuesday (March 1) on the Benjamin Lim case. He revealed in his ministerial statement that the majority, or 70 per cent, of young persons investigated by the police in the past years had either been warned, placed on a rehabilitative programme, or had no further action taken against them. This is based on investigations involving 7,196 youth aged seven to 15 from 2011 to last year. 

Another 15 per cent of them were charged in court, while the remaining 15 per cent comprised cases under consideration, he added.

While all molest cases are taken seriously, the nature of the alleged molestation in Benjamin’s case can probably be characterised as being in the “less serious range”, based on surveillance camera footage, the minister said.

Charges are usually brought against young persons whose offences involve aggravating factors and are of a “serious nature”, or when the person is a repeat offender, or has breached terms of a conditional warning.

Where possible, young offenders are placed on programmes centred on supervision and counselling. Examples of these are the Guidance Programme and the Streetwise Programme under the Probation Services Branch of the Ministry of Social and Family Development.

Mr Shanmugam also said young people here have been picked up for a wide range of crimes, from gang activities to unlicensed moneylending activities with the use of arson. He said this in response to a question on the impact of youth crimes and the challenges in managing them, raised by Member of Parliament Rahayu Mahzam (Jurong GRC).

More than 500 young persons, for instance, have been picked up by the police for rioting that involves serious gang activities over the past five years, Mr Shanmugam revealed.

In terms of rehabilitation, a large number of youths, about 600 yearly, are sent to the Guidance Programme in lieu of the police not proceeding with a charge. In this six-month programme carried out over 20 sessions, young offenders are made to understand the nature of their acts and the impact on the community, among other things. 

On the outcomes of this rehabilitation, the Home Affairs Minister noted that for the cohort who completed the programme in 2009, there was a recidivism (return to crime) rate of 11  per cent, which effectively means that the majority went on to lead crime-free lives. 

“That is the fundamental police approach: Not criminalise (them); move them on to a crime-free life. But at (the) same time, when the incident happens, we have to move,” Mr Shanmugam said.

Introduced in 1997 to address juvenile crime, the Guidance Programme is for young offenders below 19 years old who commit minor offences, such as thefts and property-related offences involving low-value items. 

In the Streetwise Programme, which is for young people involved in gangs, participants take up a series of life skills, and take part in recreational and social programmes to steer them away from their old ways. 

Participants may have to report to the police regularly, be monitored for their attendance in school, and be barred from visiting specific places and people. About 80 young people are referred to this programme each year.