Police and children

The state conventionally did not concern itself with the safety and security of the child as children were traditionally expected to be and were generally taken care of by families^[1]. Hence Police, across the world, generally did not consider children as an important constituency to be served by it except for dealing with children in conflict with law. With the changes in social and economic organisation of society, the situation changed significantly. Urbanisation, changes in the structure of family, increasing number of missing children, trafficking in children,increasing need for child online protection, increasing role for institutions other than family in child protection, are some of the significant changes in this regard. In the changed scenario, State, and by extension police and other agencies, do not leave the duty and responsibility of securing children to family and parents alone. Hence the contemporary conception of policing, at both a political and an operational level, sees police forces in an increasingly central position in the institutional arrangements for protecting children^[2].

Neglect of protection of children by police has often triggered massive protests and resulted in considerable political costs for governments, Kidnapping of Alexandra Măceșanu and Luiza Melencu, in Romania, being a good example^[3][4]. Governemnts and police organisations across the world are paying increasing attention to ensuring security of children in recent years, through enacting new child laws, creating new child protection institutions, inititaives, and rewards within police, and by creating forums(such as the Student Police Cadet Scheme)for co-creating security with children^[5].

Role of Police in Enforcing Child Laws

Legislations such as Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, The Child and Adoloscent Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 give clear mandate to protect children.

Child Protection Institutions of Police

Statutory institutions such Child Welfare Police Officer^[6], Special Juvenile Police Unit^[7], both mandatory under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, provide institutional framework for police role in Child Protection in India.

Child Protection Inititaives by Police

Ghaziabad Police Department in Uttar Pradesh launched an effort Operation Muskaan to trace missing children in September 2014 and met with great success. The project was later adopted by the Ministry of Home Affairs for adoption across India during which thousands of children were rescued by police from various states and union territories^[8]. India's Railway Protection Force launched a scheme called Nanhe Farishtey to rescue missing children in 2018 and have saved more than 80,000 children by now^[9].

Police Rewards for Child Protection

In 2019, Delhi Police floated a policy to recognise the efforts of police personnel who trace the kidnapped and missing children and reunite them with their families and have since rewarded persons who rescued missing children^[10].