-crime prevention summit hears
The Ministry of Home Affairs yesterday opened a two-day conference on crime prevention, where law enforcement agencies were urged to “rise to the occasion” in the face of significant constraints.
The conference, held under the theme ‘Making Our Communities Safer’ at the International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, drew stakeholders from various organisations as well as mixed reaction about its value. Some participants think it is timely and would contribute to the reduction of crime while others saw it as a “complete waste of time” in the absence of presentations from civil society as well as analysis of the work of the police force.
Head of the Presidential Secretariat Dr Roger Luncheon, who spoke in the stead of President Bharrat Jagdeo who was unable to attend the opening session, said the conference is timely as it reaffirms Guyana’s commitments to crime fighting. Luncheon said that in the crime fight, the administration has provided considerable resources–not just money but in many other areas. However, he said Guyana, as a developing country, has significant constraints–financial, human resource, institutional, legislative–which come with its response to crime. In this regard, he said law enforcement has to rise to the occasion as there is need for more successful efforts to be brought into play in confronting crime. He said this is where crime prevention comes into play, adding that the conference provides the backdrop, the opportunity to sit, reflect on what the government and the people are doing, as well as what more could be done and achieved.
According to Luncheon, crime is not the only challenge that Guyana faces, and he noted that the country like many others had to deal with global financial crisis. He said Guyana handled it better than many others. He added that to economically develop Guyana, opportunities for a better life for all Guyanese must be presented. However, crime remains a challenge that needs to be confronted.
Luncheon also credited “hard work, visionary leadership and sacrifice” for moving the country from where it was–in terms of crime–in the not so distant past to where it is today. He said this is why the government is serious about defending the gains in the fight against crime, adding that it is important to build on what was achieved, examine crime prevention and discuss applicability. Luncheon said Guyanese are supportive of the government’s initiatives. “We are where we are today, when we could speak confidently about consolidation, about seeing the benefits of the different reforms and being able to press on,” he said.
Spiralling violence
In his remarks Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) representative Marco Nicola noted that violence generates violence and escalating spirals of violence in turn generates significant social and economic costs in terms of economic growth, decreased social capital, worsening poverty and increased inequality. In its effort to support the government’s commitment to reduce violence, he noted that the IDB has approved the Citizen Security Programme, launched last February, which aims to enhance citizen security and coexistence by contributing to the reduction of the level of crime, violence and fear in Guyana.
According to Nicola, one distinctive element of the approach is the emphasis on the prevention side of the continuum between violence prevention and violence control. He said the preference of preventive actions is based on the evidence that exists that shows their greater cost-effectiveness when compared with control interventions. The initiative, he said, uses an integrated approach in its operations that combines among others, institutional strengthening of relevant ministries in data collection and analysis and policy formulation and evaluation and the support of community involvement that stress community empowerment and mobilisation of its members. Communication and social awareness campaigns promoting non-violent behaviours and monitoring and evaluation of activities are also part of the approach.
Listing the achievement of the programme so far, Nicola said 12 police stations have been remodelled, the computer classroom for police training was rehabilitated and the design for a new modern forensic laboratory is in progress. The Home Affairs Ministry is also currently implementing an Integrated Crime Information System and has started the upgrading of immigration policies along with the development of the monitoring and evaluation system.
Nicola pointed out that while building the capacity of the police force and ministry is important to prevent crime, these must be supported by strong community-based intervention strategies that would strengthen informal social control mechanisms and help enhance the social solidarity and cooperation nets along with promoting the community participations. “Guidance should therefore be given to communities in developing and implementing community based solutions to crime and violence especially since they affect children, youth and women,” Nicola said.
He pointed out that studies have shown that violence control would be caused by: family integration, solidarity and friendship local nets, as well as community participation. Additionally, he said those communities that intervene faster in domestic violence cases, comparatively show less incidents of that type of violence than others where there is no intervention at all. Therefore, he noted that efforts should also be made to foster integrated action between and government and non-governmental partners including community leaders and faith based groups in community crime and violence prevention efforts and to institutionalise and strengthen community police partnership in crime prevention reduction.
Meanwhile, Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee listed the government’s initiatives in the fight against crime, including legislation enacted to assist the police resources to better equip members of the force. Stressing the importance of the conference, Rohee noted that it is less costly to prevent a crime than to investigate it.
Youth
The conference saw a huge turnout by many persons, including a number of young people. When Stabroek News asked some of them what they hoped to get from the conference, they indicated that they wanted to hear what the government’s plans are. Others felt that the conference would give them a voice, since the impact crime has on the youth population is sometimes forgotten and needs to be understood. One outspoken young man noted that many criminal acts are being committed by young men, many of them still in their teens, and this needs to be addressed by the government. He, like many others, said the “root cause” of the situation must be understood.
But some of the older participants questioned the real purpose of the workshop and pointed out that from cursory look at what the two-day summit entails, it may just be another expensive expenditure that goes to waste as nothing concrete would come out.
Yesterday’s presentations included one from Commissioner Henry Greene who was to give an overview of crime and violence and the strategies undertaken, while Crime Chief Seelall Persaud made a presentation on Guyana’s fight against drugs. Dr Marlyn Jones, a professor from the University of the West Indies, was also among the persons who presented and she spoke on youth, gangs, and violence and the prevention and intervention principles. United Nations Representative on Drugs & Crime, Carlos Hernandez spoke about community involvement in crime while a former commissioner of police made a presentation on community policing.
