The Effectiveness of the Preventive Policy of the PPA (Women and Children Protection) Unit of the Padangsidimpuan City Police in Reducing Criminal Acts of Indecent Acts against Children

Abstract

The crime of indecent acts against children is a form of sexual crime that has a serious impact on the physical, psychological, and social development of children. The high potential for sexual violence against children demands effective preventive measures from law enforcement officers, especially the Women and Children Protection Unit (PPA). This study aims to analyze the form of preventive policies implemented by the PPA Unit of the Padangsidimpuan Police in suppressing criminal acts of indecent acts against children and to determine the effectiveness of these preventive policies in reducing the number of criminal acts of indecent acts against children in Padangsidimpuan City. The research method used is empirical juridical research with a legislative approach and a sociological approach. Data were obtained through literature studies, criminal statistics data, and interviews with the PPA Unit of the Padangsidimpuan Police. The results of the study indicate that the preventive policies implemented by the PPA Unit of the Padangsidimpuan Police were implemented through the establishment of a Child Protection Task Force in collaboration with the Padangsidimpuan City Government, legal counseling and education on the dangers of sexual violence in schools, collaboration with the Women's Empowerment and Child Protection Agency, maximum law enforcement against perpetrators to provide a deterrent effect, and counseling parents regarding supervision of children. These policies have proven quite effective in reducing the number of crimes of indecent acts against children as indicated by the decline in the number of cases in the last three years. In addition, the collaborative preventive approach has also increased public legal awareness of the importance of protecting children from sexual violence. Thus, the preventive policies implemented by the PPA Unit of the Padangsidimpuan Police can be a model for overcoming crimes of sexual violence against children based on education and institutional collaboration.