Police Formation and Children in Conflict with the Law

A juvenile arrested for an alleged offense against the law will usually spend hours to days at a police station before being returned to the family, or placed in residential care pending court action.  Some juveniles end up spending extended periods of time in police lockups, though the law directs otherwise.  The time spent in custody of the police can be humane or brutal depending on the officers, their understanding of the situations of CICLs (children in conflict with the law), and the protections guaranteed to CICLs by the law.  Among the residents of the two Lasallian Bahay Pag-asa Youth Centers are any number of boys who experienced abuse and even what amounts to torture at police stations as they were interrogated about the alleged offenses.  Other residents report humane treatment at police stations where officers have been schooled in the requirements of the Juvenile Justice Reform Act (RA 9344), so it is clear that police formation must be an integral part of the Bahay Pag-asa programs.

RA 9344 is quite explicit regarding the manner in which a juvenile offender must be treated while in the custody of the police:

TITLE V
JUVENILE JUSTICE AND WELFARE SYSTEM

CHAPTER I
INITIAL CONTACT WITH THE CHILD

Sec. 21. Procedure for Taking the Child into Custody. - From the moment a child is taken into custody, the law enforcement officer shall:

(a) Explain to the child in simple language and in a dialect that he/she can understand why he/she is being placed under custody and the offense that he/she allegedly committed;

(b) Inform the child of the reason for such custody and advise the child of his/her constitutional rights in a language or dialect understood by him/her;

(e) Properly identify himself/herself and present proper identification to the child;

(d) Refrain from using vulgar or profane words and from sexually harassing or abusing, or making sexual advances on the child in conflict with the law;

(e) Avoid displaying or using any firearm, weapon, handcuffs or other instruments of force or restraint, unless absolutely necessary and only after all other methods of control have been exhausted and have failed;

(f) Refrain from subjecting the child in conflict with the law to greater restraint than is necessary for his/her apprehension;

(g) Avoid violence or unnecessary force;

(h) Determine the age of the child pursuant to Section 7 of this Act;

(i) Immediately but not later than eight (8) hours after apprehension, turn over custody of the child to the Social Welfare and Development Office or other accredited NGOs, and notify the child's apprehension. The social welfare and development officer shall explain to the child and the child's parents/guardians the consequences of the child's act with a view towards counseling and rehabilitation, diversion from the criminal justice system, and reparation, if appropriate;

(j) Take the child immediately to the proper medical and health officer for a thorough physical and mental examination. The examination results shall be kept confidential unless otherwise ordered by the Family Court. Whenever the medical treatment is required, steps shall be immediately undertaken to provide the same;

(k) Ensure that should detention of the child in conflict with the law be necessary, the child shall be secured in quarters separate from that of the opposite sex and adult offenders;

(l) Record the following in the initial investigation:

1. Whether handcuffs or other instruments of restraint were used, and if so, the reason for such;

2. That the parents or guardian of a child, the DSWD, and the PA0 have been informed of the apprehension and the details thereof; and

3. The exhaustion of measures to determine the age of a child and the precise details of the physical and medical examination or the failure to submit a child to such examination; and

(m) Ensure that all statements signed by the child during investigation shall be witnessed by the child's parents or guardian, social worker, or legal counsel in attendance who shall affix his/her signature to the said statement.

A child in conflict with the law shall only be searched by a law enforcement officer of the same gender and shall not be locked up in a detention cell.

Sec. 22. Duties During Initial Investigation. - The law enforcement officer shall, in his/her investigation, determine where the case involving the child in conflict with the law should be referred.

The taking of the statement of the child shall be conducted in the presence of the following: (1) child's counsel of choice or in the absence thereof, a lawyer from the Public Attorney's Office; (2) the child's parents, guardian, or nearest relative, as the case may be; and (3) the local social welfare and development officer. In the absence of the child's parents, guardian, or nearest relative, and the local social welfare and development officer, the investigation shall be conducted in the presence of a representative of an NGO, religious group, or member of the BCPC.

After the initial investigation, the local social worker conducting the same may do either of the following:

(a) Proceed in accordance with Section 20 if the child is fifteen (15) years or below or above fifteen (15) but below eighteen (18) years old, who acted without discernment; and

(b) If the child is above fifteen (15) years old but below eighteen (18) and who acted with discernment, proceed to diversion under the following chapter.

Part of the mission of Bahay Pag-asa Dasmariñas is expressed in its Police Formation Program. Police officers and criminology interns are brought into the center from time to time to learn about CICLs (children in conflict with the law), the new laws regarding juvenile justice, and the programs offered by Bahay Pag-asa Youth Center. They are given a tour of the center by the residents themselves. Perhaps what is most important is that these officers and interns are able to meet the residents and to see what they are like after being at Bahay Pag-asa. It is hoped that, when these present and future officers of the law come into contact with a juvenile have allegedly committed an offense, they will see the young person as having the potential to be a good citizen and treat him accordingly.