|
Manila: Police in suburban Quezon City are enlisting help from an unlikely quarter in a bid to rid the streets of crime - street children.
Senior Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula said a new programme that would mobilise minors to help maintain peace and order in Metro Manila would help the youngsters shed their image as juvenile trouble-makers.
"Even children can be key players in the promotion of peace and order," Gatdula said at an event to mark the launch of the Kiddie Cops programme.
The scheme to give street children a role in law enforcement duties was the brainchild of the Quezon City Police Department's Superintendent Asprinio Cabula.
The commander of a city police station, Cabula said the growing number of child beggars first got him thinking about how they could be rehabilitated.
Kiddie Cops will see the children step in as undercover agents.
Cabula said the first batch of 25 street children-turned-agents are undergoing training at the Philippine National Police's Camp Karingal in suburban Quezon City.
He said the "recruits" are aged between 10 and 15.
Rejecting criticism from agencies mandated to protect the rights of children, he said: "The children will not be deployed during dangerous missions. They are just trained to spot common street criminals like automatic teller machine robbers, car burglars and other petty offenders."
|
