DPR Asks Handling Of Crimes Of Street Children Not To Prioritize Direct Law Enforcement

Chairman of the House of Representatives Commission VIII Yandri Susanto had a dialogue with the ranks of the DIY Regional Government on Monday, April 18. (ANTARA/Luqman H)

YOGYAKARTA - Chairman of the House of Representatives Commission VIII Yandri Susanto asked law enforcers to prioritize guidance in dealing with street crime cases involving minors, such as what happened in Yogyakarta.

According to Yandri, coaching is more important than direct law enforcement.

"The state must be present through coaching. We hope that it will be persuasive, not reactive, for example by making arrests or even direct punishment," Yandri said during a working visit with the Indonesian House of Representatives Commission VIII group at the Kapatihan Office complex, Yogyakarta, quoted by Antara, Monday 18 April.

According to her, the handling must be comprehensive, involving cross-agency including the Ministry of Social Affairs, the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, local governments, and the police.

In synergy, he said, the government needs to explore further what teenagers want, as well as the right formula to deal with delinquency at their age.

"What are their needs? Why did they come to that? So, we need to find out," he said.

Delinquency, including those manifested by street crimes, according to Yandri, does not occur purely based on the will of the youth themselves, but is related to the level of maturity of attitudes at their age.

"Once again, in my opinion, no child wants to be naughty, they all want to be good kids, want to be successful," said the politician from the National Mandate Party (PAN).

Nevertheless, he said that the Government together with a number of other agencies needed to prepare appropriate preventive measures so that underage youths did not hide behind the law (UU) to commit crimes.

"Put forward efforts for empowerment, training, or other positive things. I think it's more appropriate for their future. If you put forward a sentence of 5 years or 10 years in prison, I don't think it will solve the problem," he concluded.