Apenisa Waqairadovu 
Young children in the country are becoming more frequently involved in criminal activities.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Mesake Waqa stressed this while revealing startling data on juveniles’ involvement in crimes.
Speaking at the ODPP Annual Conference in Sigatoka, Waqa says the Fiji Police Force recorded over 400 cases of children committing serious crimes in each of the years from 2019 onward.
ACP Mesake Waqa says the statistics suggest a significant rise in serious offenses by juveniles in the last five years.
In 2019, Fiji recorded 573 cases of juveniles committing an act of crime; in 2020, the figure rose to 721, and in 2022, there were 540 cases. In 2022, there were 542 cases, and last year, the figure slightly dropped to 457.
He adds that when put by age group, 17-year-olds committed the highest number of crimes, which is 1378 cases.
Offenders at the age of 16 had 755 cases; offenders at the age of 15 had 415 cases; offenders at the age of 14 had 152 cases; offenders at the age of 13 had 79 cases; 12 years had 17 cases; and offenders at the age of five cases.
He emphasizes that a thorough discussion is necessary before raising the age of criminal responsibility for children from 10 to 14 years old.
According to Waqa, police officers are currently prepared to deal with criminal acts committed by children as young as 10.
Waqa says raising the age to 14 years would require officers to completely reassess their approach, which could potentially lead to an increase in juvenile crimes as children would no longer be afraid to commit crimes.
