A POLICE officer in Cagayan de Oro City is sounding the alarm over the increasing involvement of minors in criminal activities.

Inspector Ivans Vinas, chief of the Anti-Theft and Robbery Section (ATRS) of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (Cocpo), said criminal syndicates have been resorting to recruiting minors to do their dirty work to take advantage of the relative leniency of the state involving juvenile offenders.

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Vinas said Republic Act (RA) 9344 or the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 authored by former Senator Ralph Recto is proving to be a bane for law enforcers.

Vinas noted that the ATRS has long records of minors, especially street urchins who have become repeat offenders of petty crimes such as theft, snatchings, and the like.

Vinas said addiction to solvents is also common among the juvenile offenders.

"Usahay kining mga bataa maoy gasugoon sa mga drug addict pagpalit ngadto sa baligyaanan kay nasayud man sila nga kung masakpan dili man ma preso," Vinas said.

Just Wednesday, an ATRS team was able to apprehend a 14-year-old boy for attempting to rob a parked vehicle inside the Limketkai parking lot.

The minor was reprimanded and later released from police custody.

Under the law, the 14-year-old will have to undergo a series of intervention activities under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The child and his family will have to regularly report to the DSWD over a period of time.

But Vinas said the program to wean juveniles from a life of crime may be lacking as more and more children are lured to syndicates offering easy money.

Vinas said the ATRS is now working to identify individuals who reportedly exploit children in an effort to put a stop to this practice. (Joey P.Nacalaban)