According to the Juvenile Justice Act for Kerala (a state in India), every police station in the state must have a special juvenile police unit or a child welfare officer (CWO). The unit is tasked with acting as a watchdog and is supposed to be the first line of intervention in cases involving juveniles. The units are responsible for identifying juveniles in conflict with the law and for reporting cases of violence against children, child neglect, child abuse and exploitation.
According to one inspector general who conducts random inspections, in most cases, personnel at the police stations are unaware of the need for a designated child welfare officer and no one is serving in such a position. He reports that protection of child rights is not a priority, and there is an urgent need for sensitization programmes. The Kerala State police chief said the department does not have resources to recruit new personnel as CWOs, so in most cases, existing staff at each police station double up as the CWO. However, the staff are already burdened with work and the desired result is not being achieved regarding the treatment of juveniles at police stations.
In 2014, 42,566 juveniles were taken into custody by the police in India, with 1,432 of these in Kerala.