MOSCOW. Feb 5 (Interfax) - The recent shooting incident in a Moscow school, which claimed two lives, reflect a juvenile delinquency problem, Moscow Prosecutor Sergei Kudeneyev said.
"Flaws of the [crime] prevention system, for instance, in the surveillance of maintenance and education of children and the activity of their parents, and the absence of individual preventive work with teenagers lead to teenage crime. A confirmation to this is the February 3 tragedy at the Moscow school No 263," the city prosecutor said at a meeting of his office's board on Wednesday.
Security of all schools in the city is being checked now, he said. "School security, security guard organizations and individuals and the availability and serviceability of specialized equipment, including alert buttons, are being examined," Kudeneyev said.
Another focus of the prosecutors' inspection is "educational work, legal spending of budget funds, and enforcement of laws on crime prevention, child abandonment and juvenile delinquency," he continued.
"Apart from exposing and stopping such violations of the law, the prosecutors are bound to be active in the legal education of schoolchildren and students with the purpose of the elimination of their legal nihilism and the development of law-abiding behavioral patterns," Kudeneyev said.
Speaking of teenage crime, the city prosecutor said it grew 24% last year and described the trend as alarming. "The rate of most types of crime - theft, assault and robbery - increased by more than 30%. About three-quarters of the criminals are schoolchildren and students," Kudeneyev said.
Teenagers not only commit crimes but also fall victim to crime, he said. The rate of crimes committed against children increased by almost 50% last year.
The Moscow prosecutor said he was especially concerned about the spreading of child molestation. The rate of such crimes went 84% up in 2013.