By Minjur Dorji | 25 July 2012
The Royal Bhutan Police (RBP) has developed a youth-crime history database which records and shares information with core stakeholders.
The RBP endorsed specific guidelines for implementation of the Youth Delinquent Monitoring System (YDMS) and information sharing with the stakeholders.
The core stakeholders include the RBP, education ministry, Royal University of Bhutan (RUB), labor ministry and other related institutions.
Deputy Chief of Police Col. Thinlay Drukla said the existing database and guidelines doesn’t have a separate provision specifically for youth crimes but the new system is targeted to “specifically monitor the youth”.
The guidelines’ preamble states: “The main purpose of the criteria for admission of students shall be strictly based on criminal records and that the measures be put in place to ensure that the students with criminal track records in one college or school or institution do not secure admission in another college or school or institution.”
Another provision of the policy framework directly declares that the policy statement for all educational institutes and centers of learning shall be, “no students with criminal record shall be given admissions”.
The RBP will now have a web-based criminal database which can be accessed by all stakeholders.
The Principals, Directors and Heads of institutions including private colleges and schools referred as “focal officers” are mandated to check for adverse records using either the citizenship identity card (CID) number or the student code number.
The Deputy Chief of Police said, “Earlier our records didn’t reflect the attributing factors as to why and how the crime was committed, now every time a crime is committed, it has to be studied and entered in the database”.
The police Officers in-charge (OCs) are required to contact the parents directly when a student commits crime at any point of time including during vacations.
One coordinating officer (CO) each from all the core stakeholders has been appointed to exchange information. The four COs as per the copy of the guidelines are RBP’s Deputy Chief of Police Col. Thinlay Drukla, Director General of Education Tshewang Tandin, RUB’s University Registrar Gajel Lhundup and VETD Chief of MoLHR Karma.
Various sensitization and awareness programs headed by the Chief of Police were conducted following a meeting of stakeholders on 30 April 2012.
The policy framework is expected to come into force upon the completion of awareness programs and launch of the web-based database system tentatively scheduled for 1 August 2012.