The Prosecutor General's Office of Kazakhstan is introducing a digital preventive card for minors as part of the "Sanaly Urpaq" project. The system is designed to identify children at risk and to take preventive measures before they commit offences.
WHAT THE PILOT PROJECT SHOWED
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, the digital system was first trialled in three colleges in Astana. The analysis helped identify the main factors behind teenage crime, including:
- educational migration,
- untimely placement on the preventive register,
- insufficient parental supervision.
During the pilot project, 45 students were identified who were living without registration and, in effect, outside the purview of state bodies.
WHAT VIOLATIONS WERE FOUND DURING THE RAIDS
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, during one of the preventive raids at a night-time venue in the capital, 171 minors were found:
- 108 school pupils,
- 63 college students.
All the minors were taken to police stations. Those responsible were held to account, and the venue's operations were suspended.
HOW TEENAGE CRIME HAS CHANGED
Issues around further improving preventive work were discussed at an inter-agency meeting chaired by the head of the service for oversight of the legality of pre-trial investigation and criminal prosecution, Daulet Akylbekov.
According to the Prosecutor General's Office, teenage crime nationwide has fallen by 5% — from 1,110 to 1,061 offences. Since the start of the year, more than 6,000 preventive raids have been carried out, around 2,000 minors have been placed on the preventive register, and individual work is being undertaken with each of them.
WHAT RISK FACTORS WERE NAMED BY THE PROSECUTOR GENERAL'S OFFICE
The agency noted that the following continue to have a negative impact on the teenage environment:
- uncontrolled internet use,
- insufficient attention from parents,
- educational migration,
- untimely identification of teenagers who have fallen into the at-risk group.
In addition, particular attention at the meeting was paid to suicide prevention among minors. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, the main reasons increasingly cited in such cases are:
- bullying,
- violence,
- psychological distress.
