MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian children as young as six are to get lessons in detective work and criminal law at a school run by the police, local media reported Friday.

Russia's police force has adopted school No. 1862 in Moscow for children aged six to 17 and created a "detectives' section" as part of a campaign to clean up its reputation for incompetence and corruption.

"Future Sherlock Holmes's will be able to learn the basics of the detective's trade," Itar-Tass news agency quoted First Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin as saying. "We are investing in youth."