13-year-old girl spent the night in detention: suspected of trespassing in her own home
The Public Defender's Office in the Southern District claims that Eilat police frequently arrest minors unnecessarily. In one instance, a 13-year-old girl was detained for 'trespassing' in her own home after locking herself in a protected room. The court criticized the police's actions, calling them reckless.
Do Eilat police investigators arrest minors without any need? A series of cases recently cleared for publication at the request of the Public Defender's Office raises concerns regarding the judgment of Eilat station investigators in matters of arresting minors.
For example, the police arrested a 13-year-old girl on suspicion of violent offenses after she reported being assaulted. When police arrived, she locked herself in a protected room (MAMAD), and they arrested her on suspicion of trespassing, assault, and insulting a public servant. The girl remained in detention for an entire night. Her attorney, Eyal Lavi from the Public Defender's Office, stated that "this is a case where all boundaries were crossed in the use of detention without necessity."
Deputy President of the Eilat Magistrate's Court Shai Berger clarified to the police that there is no justification for this conduct. Judge Berger wrote:
"I found that the investigative unit was, at the very least, confused when it arrested the suspect, and certainly when it left her in detention for an entire night."
Berger added that the police presented him with a secret report full of incorrect facts. The girl had no criminal record, and she did not trespass, as she was in her own home. Ultimately, the judge noted that the detention order was given lightly, without proper judgment being exercised.
In another case, Eilat police arrested a 15-year-old girl diagnosed with developmental disabilities, who was also held in detention overnight without being questioned by a special investigator as required by law. In a third incident, a police representative, discussing the release of a 15-year-old boy whose parents could not reach the city, commented: "Let him stay in detention. I would take my son even from the moon."
Adv. Shlomo Levi, director of the Youth Department at the Public Defender's Office, Southern District, stated that such actions expose a serious systemic distortion:
"Instead of detention being a last and necessary resort, it is replaced by a flawed practice of punitive overnight imprisonment, even for offenses that do not require detention for their investigation."
The Israel Police responded by stating that they act regarding minors "with sensitivity and responsibility, in accordance with the law," and that in the mentioned cases, officers made decisions based on the lack of alternatives or the need to ensure the teenagers' safety.
