http://www.smh.com.au/news/0111/26/text/world16.html
Date: 26/11/2001
Youngsters who behave badly or commit trivial misdemeanours will be put on
the confidential register so they can be monitored and supervised throughout
childhood.
The controversial initiative is to be pioneered in 11 London boroughs from
March and then expanded nationally. Any child who is thought to be at risk of
committing a crime by the police, schools or social services will be put on the
database.
Children who are cheeky, involved in minor vandalism or causing nuisances
will be targeted under the scheme.
Their progress will then be monitored at school and on the streets by
special squads of police officers and social workers, even though the children
have not committed a crime and will not have been warned that they are being
watched.
Ian Blair, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said the
register was needed because of a rise in youngsters turning to violent crime.
The plan grew out of the Damilola Taylor murder inquiry on a council estate
in London last year. There police came across dozens of wild children who - outside
the scope of the present law - were at risk of becoming criminals.
Mr Blair admitted: "This is pretty revolutionary stuff. There will be
lots of worries but as long as it is understood that the purpose of holding
this information is to ensure that we should collectively intervene to prevent
children from becoming criminal, I think that it will be accepted."
The civil-rights group Liberty expressed concern about the plan.
The Sunday Telegraph, London
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