Oldendorff Carriers, of New Amsterdam, Berbice, on Monday donated sports gear to the Central Police Station Youth Group.
Speaking at the simple handing over ceremony, Commander ‘B’ Division Ian Amsterdam stated that the Community Outreach Intervention under the Social Crime Prevention Programme was started in areas with much crime by the now Commissioner of Police Seelall Persaud.
He said due to the success the initiative has seen over the years, it has spread to divisions throughout the country. He stressed that the programme played a major part in crime reduction.
“We here have picked up the pace as it relates to our social intervention programmes and interactions with our youths,” he said, while voicing confidence that it would work in the favour of the force.
Amsterdam emphasised that his Division is working towards crime prevention. “We don’t want to have to deal with the issue after the crime has occurred,” he noted.
He highlighted that ‘B’ Division will be working in different areas with youths, especially those who are unemployed and come from broken and crime-affected homes. He stressed that they want to get in contact with youths before they fall into the wrong hands. “We have learned that because of those situations, the child needs guidance and help,” he said.
Assistant Superintendent Keith Williams, who is the ‘B’ Division Community Relations Officer and spearheads the programme along with the Community Relations Liaison Officer Stacy Brutus, explained that the group empowers and educates youth, whether it be through sports or education, so that they can make better decisions in their every-day lives.
General Manager at Oldendorff, Paul Mohn, who was present at the handing over ceremony, stated that the police force always needs to stand by the youths of the community. “The kids are our main resource, we need to engage them,” he said. “Oldendorff is a responsible citizen; we like to be here and we want to stay here, so anything that we can do to help, let us know and we will try to do whatever we can,” he added.
Youths that are a part of the group hail from Fort Ordnance and Angoy’s Avenue.
