Cypriot Policy on Youth crime

Promote positive activities amongst young people.  The aim is to reach out to young people, give them positive experiences of life in general and of the police, give them the opportunity to get to know the police and build trust between them, eg young volunteers in the police, organised school visits to Police Departments / Police Stations.

Make interventions in schools (on various topics) for children and young people of various ages, up to the age of 18-19 are an important part of the contribution of the police.  This includes interventions related to the Youth and Children Charters.

Alternative treatment of young offenders.  Minors and young adult offenders in drugs cases (users) are given an alternative to court procedure and sentencing, if they choose to participate in a specially formulated counselling program. 

Partnerships with other agencies (Ministry of Education, Youth Board, Church of Cyprus, Local Authorities etc) that deal with young people in order to combine forces in providing young people with positive activities and interests.

The usual police procedure for young offenders is outlined in section legislation.

Statistics on this policy can be found here.