Juvenile delinquencies in Armenia have increased by 56 cases compared to last year, Nelly Duryan, Deputy Head of Juvenile Department at RA Police, told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter.

According to her, the situation over the past 10 years (1998-99) has shown tendencies for stabilization. "This year was exceptional in terms of the number of crimes committed by juvenile offenders. But that's accounted for by several factors. According to new procedures of registering crimes, we now fix even minor misdemeanors, something we didn't do in the past. Crime detection rate has also increased, so we have no particular concerns in that regard," she noted.

The majority of juvies are teenagers aged 16-17 who in most cases receive their punishment at home. These are children who have remained jobless after leaving school. "If this problem were resolved, everything could be avoided. Hence, work with antisocial children should be carried out not only by Police but also by public structures," Nelly Duryan stressed.

In that regard, she highly assessed NGOs' role, expressing hope for effective cooperation.