site.btaProperty Theft Was Commonest Criminal Offence Committed by Juveniles in 2014

Property Theft Was Commonest Criminal Offence Committed by Juveniles in 2014

Sofia, April 17 (BTA) - A total of 10,705 juveniles had a police
counselling centre record for anti-social behaviour and
criminal offences in 2014, insignificantly more than the 10,536
in 2013, the National Statistical Institute reported on Friday.

The rate of persons aged 8-17 with a police counselling centre
record stood at 1,690 per 100,000 in 2014, up by 1.3 per cent
from 2013. The juveniles who went on police counselling centre
record for the first time last year numbered 3,324 (up 6.7 per
cent from 2013), accounting for 31.1 per cent of the total
number of persons on record. As many as 71.7 per cent of them
were aged between 14 and 18.

A total of 3,104 juveniles were stricken off police counselling
centre record, or 29 per cent of those kept on record during the
year. Slightly over half (1,573 or 50.7 per cent) were removed
from record because they had reformed, 1,423 or 45.8 per cent
because they turned 18, and 108 or 3.5 per cent for other
reasons.

The number of juveniles who passed through police counselling
centres for anti-social behaviour in 2014 was 5,342, down by
1,097 or 17 per cent from 2013. Of these, 3,488 or 65.3 per
cent were boys, and 1,854 or 34.7 per cent were girls.

The largest number of juveniles were referred to police
counselling centres for escaping from home: 1,523 or 28.5 per
cent of the total, followed by use of narcotics (529 or 9.9 per
cent) and vagrancy and begging (354 or 6.6 per cent).

The number of juveniles who were kept on record at police
counselling centres for the commission of criminal offences was
5,340 in 2014, down by 11.1 per cent from 2013.

Property theft was the commonest criminal offence perpetrated by
juveniles. Thieves numbered 3,173 or 59.4 per cent of the
total with police counselling centre record for criminal
offences. The largest proportion, 28.1 per cent (893 persons),
stole from shops and other distributive trade establishments,
followed by home thefts (23.1 per cent or 734 persons) and
burglaries (12.6 per cent or 399 persons).

Juveniles victims of crime numbered 1,774 in 2014, of whom as
730 or 41.1 per cent were girls, 719 or 40.5 per cent were aged
under 14, and 1,055 or 59.5 per cent were aged 14-18.

The largest number and, respectively, the largest share of
juveniles were victims of property theft (947 persons or 53.4
per cent), followed by bodily injury (215 persons or 12.1 per
cent), molestation (97 persons or 5.5 per cent), and robbery (84
persons or 4.7 per cent). The cases of children victims of rape
(completed and attempted) decreased from 29 in 2013 to 18 in
2014.

In 2014 the local commissions for control of juvenile
anti-social behaviour instituted 5,380 correctional intervention
cases, of which 3,843 (71.4 per cent) were instituted by the
prosecuting authorities. A total of 4,985 cases were disposed
of, including 3,109 or 62.4 per cent within one month. Three
hundred and forty-nine cases were dismissed on various grounds.

In 2014 the local commissions for control of juvenile
anti-social behaviour imposed 7,519 correctional intervention
measures on 5,473 persons aged 8-17. More than half of the
children on whom correctional intervention measures were imposed
(3,020 or 55.2 per cent) had primary or unfinished primary
education.