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CHAPTER 7PROGRESS OFPOLICE SUPERINTENDENTS’ DISCRETION SCHEMEBACKGROUND7.1 Under the Police Superintendents’ Discretion Scheme (PSDS), aPolice officer of the rank of Superintendent or above may, at his or herdiscretion, caution a young offender instead of initiating a criminal prosecutionagainst the offender. With effect from 1 September 1995, the age ceiling ofoffenders eligible for the PSDS was raised from the age of under 17 years old tounder 18 years old so that more young offenders may benefit from the Scheme.The Fight Crime Committee (FCC) monitors the progress of the PSDS throughthe half-yearly progress reports submitted by the Commissioner of Police (CP).OVERALL SITUATION7.2 A total of 7 566 juveniles (for the purpose of this report, a juvenilemeans a person under the age of 18) were arrested for various criminal offencesin 2004, representing a decrease of 7.2% compared with 2002 (8 156) and adecrease of 4.4% compared with 2003 * (7 918). The five most commoncriminal offences committed by juvenile offenders in 2004 included shop theft,miscellaneous thefts, wounding and serious assault, robbery, and offencesagainst public order (see chart at Appendix XVI).7.3 Not all arrested juveniles are eligible for the PSDS. For thosearrested in 2004, 51.9% were eligible for the Scheme, compared with 54.7% in2002 and 50.4% in 2003. The following guidelines for assessing the eligibilityof juvenile offenders for the Scheme remained unchanged -(a)at the time the caution is administered, the offender is under the ageof 18 years;(b) the offender has no previous criminal record;(c)the evidence available is sufficient to support a prosecution;(d) the offender voluntarily and unequivocally admits the offence; and* As from 1.7.2003, the minimum age of criminal liability has been raised from 7 to 10.122
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