(Trinidad Express) The Police Service has launched a new programme to prevent young persons from joining gangs and engaging in violent crimes.
The programme is named Gang Reduction and Community Empowerment Project (Project Grace) and was launched yesterday at the Police Academy in Samaan Drive, St James.
In delivering the feature address, acting Commissioner of Police McDonald Jacob said the programme would be a useful tool in the arsenal of the Police Service.
“As we are all aware, there are heightened levels of fear and anxiety at all levels in our society, from parents at home to members of the business community.
“Murders and other serious crimes are, by far, the main issues in the country. Therefore we know the fear of crime is real, and we are aware that the public demands improved performance by the TTPS. The course of crime ultimately affects the standard of living for everyone. But it is more overwhelming for those communities already plagued by deprivation and economic challenges,” he said.
Gang connections
Jacob said it is a fact “that most of the persons involved in street and violent crime come from these neighbourhoods, and there is a direct relationship with criminal gang activities. For the year 2020 alone, the TTPS recorded 205 murders which were classified as gang murders.
“And of course, the firearm is the main tool to perpetuate the killings. But what is the TTPS response to this? Well, there was an all-out campaign to seize firearms from off the streets and communities within the country.
“To date, we seized 445 firearms. Of these, 64 of those firearms are high-powered weapons. From these weapons, the TTPS has charged 1,060 persons for firearm offences, and 70 per cent of the persons are young persons between 16 and 25. So this Grace project is designed to counter and reverse the events that are occurring in these communities.”
He said Project Grace had an additional benefit, as the data collected from this programme would be utilised to create foundations for regional case studies—something, he explained, that had been sorely lacking in academia.
“Research on the effectiveness of these methodologies in countries outside of the USA is scant, and it is unclear which of the intervention components are more effective. Despite this, programme effectiveness has been shown to improve the areas where you have a higher collective efficacy, where neighbourhoods take ownership for their space, and persons in the community take charge of what is acceptable behaviour and reinforce it with one another,” Jacob said.
Jacob said Project Grace would adopt an evidence-based approach, and combine prevention, intervention, as well as suppression strategies, that encompass strengthening intelligence and investigations, and also seek to work in partnership with communities to address the root causes of violence and criminal gang activities
“Project Grace will require foundational work to ensure that we get it right and do it the right way. Part of setting up the foundation is building up the capacity of our officers through extensive training. This training commences today at the Police Academy, where First Division officers are going through the training session.
“Some of those officers will be chosen to lead the project in selected communities. Following this, there will be training for over 600 officers in the 12 station districts,” Jacob added.
