"Kurve kriegen" NRW initiative against juvenile delinquency now also in the Rhein-Sieg district

The initiative has been helping children and young people at risk of crime to find ways out of crime for 10 years now. Early detection and prompt intervention by educational professionals in cooperation with the police has become an indispensable component in preventing careers as prolific offenders. The aim of the initiative is to identify children and young people who are particularly at risk of becoming criminals at an early stage and to prevent this in the long term. The initiative is primarily aimed at children and young people between the ages of 8 and 15 who have been reported to the police for at least one violent offense or three property crimes and whose life circumstances are so risky that there is a danger of a permanent slide into crime. The guiding principle here is "early help instead of late hardship". This intervention has proven to be particularly effective, because for educational and criminological reasons it is expedient to deal with the causes of young people's delinquency as early as possible, individually and precisely. Scientific evidence shows that around 6 to 10 percent of all suspected children and young people are responsible for up to 50 percent of the crimes committed by this age group. Under certain circumstances, they can develop into so-called "prolific offenders" This is where the initiative comes in, with the aim of reducing or very significantly reducing the number of unlawful acts and criminal offenses and thus potential victims to "zero". Since July 1, 2021, there have been several additional locations in NRW for "Kurve kriegen". Including in the Rhein-Sieg district police authority. Educational specialists, the Crime Prevention and Victim Protection Department and the youth welfare offices work closely together in the project. Jörg Cadsky and Markus Rieger from update, the outpatient addiction support service of Caritas and Diakonie in Bonn, have been recruited as educators. Chief Superintendent Jörg Seeger is an expert in crime prevention and the police contact person. Further information can be found at www.kurvekriegen.nrw.de .