Coming up with a template to address the social issues that contribute to chronic gang violence and twice-yearly meetings for the region’s drug enforcement heads to share intelligence, were two of the decisions taken as police commissioners ended their meeting here yesterday.
“I believe that a lot of these steps that are being taken will impact in a positive way as we move to deal with this monster we call drug trafficking,” President of the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police (ACCP), Barbadian Police Commissioner Darwin Dottin said.
Addressing the media last evening at the Pegasus Hotel, where the four-day summit was held, Dottin said while they want to be as transparent as possible “there are things that we need to hold close to our chests”. But he revealed that they have decided that in order to tackle the growing drug problem in the Caribbean, now a major transhipment point, they need to share data and knowledge about trends. As such, it was decided that the heads of the drug agencies in the different countries would meet twice a year for precisely that.
If there is one crime that causes a lot of anxiety and fear around the region it is the illegal use of firearms and this came in for quite a comprehensive discussion. “Of course a lot of it is associated with the trafficking of illegal drugs…” Dottin noted.
On the local front, Commissioner of Police Henry Greene said Guyana would benefit significantly from the cooperation that has been fostered and he was optimistic that progress would be made regionally on the drug front.
The commissioners also reported that they have set themselves some action plans and that there are some policies that were looked at, which would be reported to their respective policymakers.
As regards gang violence, Dottin described the presentations by the Inter- American Development Bank (IDB) and a community organiser from Trinidad and Tobago on the issue as “very penetrating analyses”. From these presentations, he said, they were able to identify the risk factors that drive gang violence in the region.
“One of the positive results of that interaction is that we were able to examine some of the successful intervention programmes in the region, particularly in Trinidad and Jamaica,” Dottin said.
“Out of the interaction we were able to produce a template for community intervention to deal with the chronic problem of violence and gangs around this region.”
He said during the presentations they heard about poor parenting skills, incomplete schooling and early access by young people to firearms among other things.
“And so the matter of law enforcement cannot be divorced from social conditions in communities and right across the spectrum law enforcement, governmental agencies, and non-governmental agencies have to come up with an approach to deal with the very deep social problems in some of our communities.”
The template that was set up, deals with identifying the risk factors and carrying out baseline studies. How the Caribbean commissioners and the forces they command currently treat with this issue, strictly in law enforcement mode, would have to change; as they recognise that if they continue to use force, the criminals would also continue to use force. Dottin said there are interesting stories and examples about how such interventions work.
“But I hope you are not getting the impression that I am advocating soft policing,” he said, “because some firm policing is required in some cases. But from what we are seeing around the Caribbean, there is need for social intervention in those communities that are spawning the growth of gangs and that kind of violent behaviour.”
Questioned as to how serious a threat gang violence is to national security across the Caribbean, Dottin said while gangs may be more prevalent in Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica, to some extent most countries have some problem with it. What they see, is a need for young people to come together at the level of their peers for social activities.
He said when young people are alienated from society, they tend to form groups to fill that type of need, “but that is not that type of gangs we are talking about [its] the gangs that use extreme violence, use of firearm, involve in the trafficking of drugs… Those are the young people that we are trying to reach.”
Resourced
But in order for police forces to deal with the mounting problems in crime and security, Dottin said, they need to be resourced, prepared and have the capacity. As such, the matter of training was dealt with extensively during the four days.
The conditions that currently exist for training are not the best. According to Dottin, some of the commissioners feel “it is too ad hoc and that there needs to be thorough and more permanent methods of providing training for our officers and so there are some proposals that we are taking forward to use resources that are available in our region…”
Out of the discussions some international organisations have promised to provide opportunities for training of officers.
The issue of forensic analysis also received some attention at the conference as it was recognised that there is room for improvement. While the region has some forensic labs, the commissioners “feel that the best use is not being made of them, so maybe we have to rationalise their use…”
Dottin recalled that at an earlier meeting they had formed a working group to bring forward proposals to deal with the issue and they reported at the conference and identified steps that have to be taken to ensure that police services are given greater support in the use of forensic technology.
On the issue of domestic violence, Dottin said the presentation by Guyanese Dr Janice Jackson helped the commissioners to understand the societal dynamics driving domestic violence. He said some of the suggestions Jackson made would be taken on board by the association.
On the homicide rate, Dottin said that last year when commissioners and heads of military organisations met in Guyana for an extraordinary meeting, a plan of action was devised to deal with the homicide rate among other issues. During the just concluded conference country reports were presented by the commissioners on how the plan of action was dealt with in their countries. Dottin said that from the reports there have been some successes and in some countries the homicide rate has been “drastically reduced” but there are still some problems remaining and they have to redouble their efforts to deal with them.
Force
The use of force by police officers when executing their duties was also discussed as has been done in the past. According to Dottin, at the last conference a presentation was made by The Bahamas and it was decided that they would use the procedures from that country as best practices in the other countries.
“That is a work in progress… but once it is completed it would be circulated for the use in member states,” he said.
“As police organisations we are not fighting a war against our citizens … even though they are provoked, in most cases police officers are working in a conflictual position… we think that their training is as such that they would be able to deal with those persons with whom they come into contact in a respectful manner.”
Twenty countries were represented at the conference and the commissioners benefited from interactions with officials from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The commissioners also heard presentations from academics, development banks, NGOs and community leaders.
The conference was described as one that was “productive” and one that saw frank and wide exchange of ideas and gave commissioners an opportunity to share best practices.
