_3 min Read_ ### Why children are important - They are, **undoubtedly, the most treasured possessions of citizens**: Police generally don’t give as much importance to a lost child as they would give for a lost car/ gold ornament.  - Children are the most vulnerable of all the vulnerable categories - They constitute almost 40% of the Population, and 100% of our future. ### What can be done in the short term 1. Leadership (especially Superintendents of Police and Officers in Charge of Police Stations) need to treat safety of children a more important priority and this should be **institutionalised** by making Policing for Children an important agenda item of Police review meetings. In my humble opinion, this is the No.1 change Police need to effect for better serving children. 2. Existing Institutions of Police, for Children :  1. CWPO : J J Act clearly states that each Police Station should have a Child Welfare Police Officer(CWPO) not below the rank of an ASI with an **exclusive mandate** for caring for children. If this can be ensured, that will effect a sea change in the way Police take care of children ( Attaching a model Monthly Return each CWPO may submit to Superintendent of Police- Appendix-1). 2. SJPU: Superintendent of Police should ensure Special Juvenile Police Unit (SJPU) does their job well (Attaching a model Monthly Return SJPU may submit to Superintendent of Police - Appendix-2) 3. Anti Human Trafficking Units| AHTU: Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU) has a mandate(under Rule 92 (5) of Juvenile Justice Model Rules 2016) to take up all cases of Missing Children where the Police Station is not able to trace even after four months. This rarely happens. 3. Child Laws, SC Directives: Though number and quality of administering of POCSO cases may have improved, many other Child Laws such as The Child and Adolescent Labour ( Prohibition and Regulation) Act,1986, The Prohibition of Child Marriages Act, 2006 are rarely invoked.SC Directive to register FIR promptly  in all cases of missing children is mostly not followed.  4. Credible collaborators: As Police will be overstretched most of the time, they should activate cooperation with agencies such as District Child Protection Officer, School Authorities.Student Police Cadet Scheme if active can help gather very useful information on the safety concerns of children from school students. 5. Best Practices and Protocols : Customised, simple SOPs an ASI can read and understand in various areas of Child Protection would help.  6. Emphasis on Prevention and proactive orientation: Activating Child Welfare Police Officer(CWPO)s in each Police Station, SJPU in each district, AHTU in each district and at the state level, with a list of doable preventive measures can be considered. Following areas may require urgency in this regard. 1. Missing Children (Read [[Tracing Missing Children- Sure Steps]]) 2. Violence- especially Sexual Violence. 3. Child Labour. 4. Corruption in Childcare machinery 5. Safety of children online (A good example in this regard is an effort by Kerala Police in preventing offences against children in Cyberspace ; www.kidgloves.in _may be seen)._ 7. Emphasis on Child friendly procedures : A major aspect of Justice delivery in offences against children is empathetic treatment of the child victims. These children need to go back to school, resume their lives as before and in all this, confidence Police can give them will play a big role. This does not require much major effort except that Police leaders have to convey the message to the rank and file in unequivocal terms. ### Medium Term/ Long Term Strategies - A framework for Policing for Children : If State Police can come up with a Framework paper on Policing for children, that will give thrust to the long term efforts in this vital area. If this can be taken forward and enshrined in the Sate Police Act or brought out as a separate legislation, that will be a pioneering work in this domain. Public in general and Policemen individually have enormous goodwill for children; it is very likely that the response for any initiative for the welfare of children will witness a more than ordinary response and success. In my experience, this is an area Policemen find considerable job satisfaction.