The importance of community policing
thenassauguardian editorial
Nassau, The Bahamas
An important aspect in any crime fighting strategy is the involvement of the community.
That’s why we were pleased to learn that The Bahamas is this week, hosting a regional community policing conference aimed at strengthening existing programs.
Crime and the fear of crime is a growing concern in our country. Our murder count is at 87, just seven off last year’s record murder count of 94.
By the end of this year it will most certainly be our fourth murder record year in five years.
Residents of communities often know who the troublemakers are, and they often know who is committing the crimes in their communities.
That’s where community policing comes in.
It fosters positive and constructive relationships with communities that can help police solve crimes.
It also helps forge ties where they are most critical — with the youth, which plays an important role in bringing a halt to the vicious cycle of crime and criminality.
And for the Caribbean, according to conference moderator and community security specialist, Bertrand Laurent, it is becoming more and more important for police to improve relationships with young residents.
“There is a rapidly increasing youth population throughout the countries in the Caribbean, and along with that increase has come an increase in different kinds of issues having to do with youth,” he said.
Community policing has been cited as one reason for a decline in crime rates in some cities across the United States.
Research has shown that police departments that have adopted the community policing model have been able to engage communities in comprehensive, collaborative, community-based problem solving aimed at crime, fear of crime and disorder. The pairing of police and community brings together the power of the formal criminal justice system with the informal social control that communities can exert.
Positive results have also been seen when police forge new partnerships with other professional and civic institutions — non-profit groups, the business community, schools and religious organizations, etc.
These can allow for the development of long-term, broad-based interventions that address conditions that allow chronic problems to persist. But community policing is more than having officers do routine community walkabouts in hotspot areas, or having an officer walk a beat as a visible deterrent to crime.
Sustainable solutions must be developed.
These solutions should be dedicated to having a better understanding of community issues, problem solving to meet the real needs of the community, promoting increased levels of involvement by supporting local residents’ issues and having increased visibility in those communities plagued by crime.
Officials expect to leave the conference, which ends today, with examples of best practices in the region and with better insight on what works and doesn’t work for different island populations. Often times conferences end with a communique that collects dust on a shelf in some office.
Let’s waste no time in putting these best practices to work, and develop our own solutions tailored to meet our specific needs and environment.
Aug 11, 2011
thenassauguardian editorial
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Showing posts with label crime Caribbean. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crime Caribbean. Show all posts
Friday, August 12, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
How can CARICOM countries decrease the upswing of criminality?
By Ian Francis
Every day, the Caribbean region’s population, through the various and diverse media organs of print and radio resources, is bombarded with news of crime ranging from homicide, armed robberies, rape and other violent crimes against innocent citizens, who are later described as victims, after facing the trauma of being attacked and victimized by these misfits in our community.
As an exiled Caribbean person in North America, I understand the individual pains felt by victims and the lacking inadequacy of our law enforcement agencies to apprehend and bring many of these offenders to justice. Although, some of these alleged offenders are apprehended and brought to justice, the growing inadequacy of the justice system further compounds the situation by apparent backlogs, timid Crown prosecutors and lawless legal lawyers, who show very little respect for the judicial system by constantly plotting and finding schemes and alibis on circumventing the justice system.
Many of these legal misfits can be found throughout the regional court circuit and are very well known by sitting judges and magistrates. Unfortunately, the legislative disciplinary mechanism is still in draft or review in many regional states so these misfits enjoy disciplinary immunity.
So, a careful analysis of the crime upswing in the region should not be only attributed to the senseless hardcore criminals. Therefore, when the question of crime and criminality is posed to the ordinary citizen on the street, the usual response is “all ah dem in crime”.
Getting such comments, it became necessary for me to delve further into these damaging comments and the outcomes were as follows, with both victims and potential victims identifying group and individual contributions to this untenable situation in the region. Based on my frank and open discussions, it is fair to conclude that crime escalation in the region cannot be blamed only on hardcore criminals. There are many other accomplices, which include:
-- Crooked, lawless and unethical lawyers versed in running red short around the judicial system;
-- Rogue cops who wear the uniform but act as the ears and eyes to inform criminals and their accomplices of planned police operations against them;
-- The revisionist habitual criminal offenders and their known accomplices who have no respect for law and order and invasion of individual rights
-- Public servants who live above their means and in order to maintain the lifestyle, they have no alternative but to divert to corrupt practices, which often go undetected
-- Corrupted elected and appointed parliamentarians who see a niche where they can advance themselves by amassing wealth through money laundering and other corrupt practices
-- Corporate and small business owners who manipulate the customs, excise and tax systems.
These strong perceptions and feelings by the population cannot be ignored anymore. Respective Caribbean governments need to take immediate action.
The situation is very gloomy throughout the region. It was only a few days ago that Trinidad’s National Security Minister accused crooked law enforcement officers of renting their weapons to criminals to commit serious crimes. With this and other allegations emerging from around the region, there should be no doubt or uncertainty in the mind of decision makers that “it is time for house cleaning”.
Yes, there are strong possibilities that many will be caught and, of course, there might be embarrassment; however, if CARICOM governments are committed to disrupting the criminal elements in their states, action and cleansing is needed on all fronts. These are some of the critical elements of transparency, accountability and good governance. Criminality is in our midst and it must be flushed out with vigilance and aggression.
CARICOM governments have from time to time talked about assets declaration. Rather than lamenting whether elected and appointed officials should make the necessary declaration, it is incumbent on respective governments to move swiftly with such legislation. In my view, all public servants in the employ of central governments and statutory bodies should make a declaration on what they own? How was it acquired? Current value and plans for future economic activities.
To put it bluntly, a police corporal with no relatives abroad, no significant local inheritance, no previously known and published financial accomplishments in his or current position is the owner of several houses, fishing boats and “one mores”. A careful examination and monitoring of this individual life style shows minimal activities in an existing financial institution. However, at the end of the day, he or she boasts assets to the tune of millions. Well, as a Jamaican friend would say, “da en sound right”.
This is the reality of criminal and unethical conduct in the CARICOM region. Rather than thinking that the criminal troublemakers are only deportees, it is ample time to dig deeper and identify other perpetrators. They are amongst us and detection is reasonably possible.
There are so many examples of public servant misconduct and alleged corruption in the region that the time has come when it cannot be ignored. Take a simple look at Stanford’s behaviour in Antigua, where he controlled a key staffer in the financial regulation department. Certainly, it occurred in Antigua but it will be very silly to think that there are no other misfits within the region.
Criminal lawlessness is not only amongst the poor. Let’s take a holistic approach and the results will be very surprising.
Ian Francis resides in Toronto. He writes frequently on Caribbean Commonwealth Affairs. He is a former Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Grenada and can be reached at info@vismincommunications.org
February 3, 2011
caribbeannewsnow
Every day, the Caribbean region’s population, through the various and diverse media organs of print and radio resources, is bombarded with news of crime ranging from homicide, armed robberies, rape and other violent crimes against innocent citizens, who are later described as victims, after facing the trauma of being attacked and victimized by these misfits in our community.
As an exiled Caribbean person in North America, I understand the individual pains felt by victims and the lacking inadequacy of our law enforcement agencies to apprehend and bring many of these offenders to justice. Although, some of these alleged offenders are apprehended and brought to justice, the growing inadequacy of the justice system further compounds the situation by apparent backlogs, timid Crown prosecutors and lawless legal lawyers, who show very little respect for the judicial system by constantly plotting and finding schemes and alibis on circumventing the justice system.
Many of these legal misfits can be found throughout the regional court circuit and are very well known by sitting judges and magistrates. Unfortunately, the legislative disciplinary mechanism is still in draft or review in many regional states so these misfits enjoy disciplinary immunity.
So, a careful analysis of the crime upswing in the region should not be only attributed to the senseless hardcore criminals. Therefore, when the question of crime and criminality is posed to the ordinary citizen on the street, the usual response is “all ah dem in crime”.
Getting such comments, it became necessary for me to delve further into these damaging comments and the outcomes were as follows, with both victims and potential victims identifying group and individual contributions to this untenable situation in the region. Based on my frank and open discussions, it is fair to conclude that crime escalation in the region cannot be blamed only on hardcore criminals. There are many other accomplices, which include:
-- Crooked, lawless and unethical lawyers versed in running red short around the judicial system;
-- Rogue cops who wear the uniform but act as the ears and eyes to inform criminals and their accomplices of planned police operations against them;
-- The revisionist habitual criminal offenders and their known accomplices who have no respect for law and order and invasion of individual rights
-- Public servants who live above their means and in order to maintain the lifestyle, they have no alternative but to divert to corrupt practices, which often go undetected
-- Corrupted elected and appointed parliamentarians who see a niche where they can advance themselves by amassing wealth through money laundering and other corrupt practices
-- Corporate and small business owners who manipulate the customs, excise and tax systems.
These strong perceptions and feelings by the population cannot be ignored anymore. Respective Caribbean governments need to take immediate action.
The situation is very gloomy throughout the region. It was only a few days ago that Trinidad’s National Security Minister accused crooked law enforcement officers of renting their weapons to criminals to commit serious crimes. With this and other allegations emerging from around the region, there should be no doubt or uncertainty in the mind of decision makers that “it is time for house cleaning”.
Yes, there are strong possibilities that many will be caught and, of course, there might be embarrassment; however, if CARICOM governments are committed to disrupting the criminal elements in their states, action and cleansing is needed on all fronts. These are some of the critical elements of transparency, accountability and good governance. Criminality is in our midst and it must be flushed out with vigilance and aggression.
CARICOM governments have from time to time talked about assets declaration. Rather than lamenting whether elected and appointed officials should make the necessary declaration, it is incumbent on respective governments to move swiftly with such legislation. In my view, all public servants in the employ of central governments and statutory bodies should make a declaration on what they own? How was it acquired? Current value and plans for future economic activities.
To put it bluntly, a police corporal with no relatives abroad, no significant local inheritance, no previously known and published financial accomplishments in his or current position is the owner of several houses, fishing boats and “one mores”. A careful examination and monitoring of this individual life style shows minimal activities in an existing financial institution. However, at the end of the day, he or she boasts assets to the tune of millions. Well, as a Jamaican friend would say, “da en sound right”.
This is the reality of criminal and unethical conduct in the CARICOM region. Rather than thinking that the criminal troublemakers are only deportees, it is ample time to dig deeper and identify other perpetrators. They are amongst us and detection is reasonably possible.
There are so many examples of public servant misconduct and alleged corruption in the region that the time has come when it cannot be ignored. Take a simple look at Stanford’s behaviour in Antigua, where he controlled a key staffer in the financial regulation department. Certainly, it occurred in Antigua but it will be very silly to think that there are no other misfits within the region.
Criminal lawlessness is not only amongst the poor. Let’s take a holistic approach and the results will be very surprising.
Ian Francis resides in Toronto. He writes frequently on Caribbean Commonwealth Affairs. He is a former Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Grenada and can be reached at info@vismincommunications.org
February 3, 2011
caribbeannewsnow
Monday, June 21, 2010
Crime and unemployment could result in changes in government in Belize and the Caribbean
By Wellington C. Ramos:
I have always listened to many world leaders speaking about what they would like to accomplish for the citizens of their respective countries during their tenures in office and have very seldom heard any of them committing themselves to provide full time employment to all their citizens.
Yet, if the citizens of a country are unemployed they will not be in the position to provide for themselves and their families, which will leave the burden on the government. A caring government should always make full employment its top priority. Any government that does not have this issue on the top of there list is embarking on an impossible journey.
Maybe, if the government of Belize had this issue at the top of their agenda when they first came into office, crime would not be escalating in Belize at the rate it is today. I have looked at several studies over the years and it is documented that there is a direct relationship between crime and employment. When a government has failed to provide meaningful employment to its citizens, a majority of the criminals will use that reason as a justification to commit crimes.
Knowing my Belizean people, a majority of them will say but how come when we were growing up we grew up hard and did not have to commit crimes. Well, we grew up in different times and this new generation is a lot different from the people who grew up during our time.
A majority of these young people are exposed to different things that we were not exposed to when we were growing up and the things that they are currently exposed to are what shape their thoughts and influence their actions. Some of the things as parents and guardians we have control of but a majority of them we lack control over.
The common cry in Belize is that this young generation is lazy and they do not want to do anything but beg, sell drugs and steal. There might be some truth to this but time and things have changed in our country, in all the other countries in the Caribbean and the rest of the world.
It is not the responsibility of the private sector to provide full employment to the citizens of a country. That burden lies on the government through a long term plan that gives incentives to private businesses to invest their funds in the economy where they can make profits for themselves and expand their businesses.
A person that has money to invest will not spend his or her money until they have evaluated a government’s incentive package. If they come to the conclusion that there is nothing there for them, then they will just sit on the side and hold on to their money until the government comes out with a package that is favorable to them.
Most businesses are attracted to tax incentives, inducements and business loans. In Belize, there were several of these given to political parties cronies who were not legitimate business people over the years and the taxpayers’ money went to waste, causing DFC to go bankrupt. Some of these individuals still owe the Belizean taxpayers and they are not being pursued for the outstanding debts.
That same money could have been given to a legitimate business owner who would have provided jobs to many citizens. Giving businesses reasonable tax incentives for hiring people is a wise thing to do. The incentive should be measured and monitored because it will take away from the government’s revenue.
The government of Belize came out with a comprehensive plan to combat crime and it was impressive. If this is backed up by a similar plan to deal with unemployment, land reform and lot acquisition, it will be difficult for them to lose re-election.
Belizeans are tired of seeing foreigners come into their country to be given lots and lands, while they are asked to fill out applications wait for years and never hear back anything from the Lands Department. Plus, when they go to Belmopan there is no record that they ever applied for any lot or land while watching the foreigners living in their new homes and forcefully taking lands to do their farming.
There is enough land in Belize to give every Belizean citizen living in Belize, the United States and abroad a lot and farm land so that they can own a part of their country and be proud citizens, so what is causing this big delay?
The Ministers of Trade, Industry, Labour, Agriculture, Commerce and Foreign Investment must now get together and formulate a comprehensive package to tackle unemployment in Belize. I have not seen any statistics on what is Belize’s unemployment rate but my guess is that it is over 25%. When they brought out the poverty rate recently, it was alarming and this is because of the unemployment situation, which has a major impact on most or the citizens’ social and economic conditions.
If the government of Belize can get a commitment to establish about three large industrial factories in each district and offer lots and farm lands to a majority of the unemployed residents of Belize City to build a home and do farming elsewhere, the country of Belize would become a more prosperous nation.
Belize City is too old and is suffering from serious urban decay and decline. I used to live in Belize City many years ago and it is a different city today. To live in a city just to say you live in a city, where you feel unsafe and insecure is not worth it. In real estate, a person who has a home is always looking for a peaceful, quiet and enjoyable environment to live.
I still believe that our country of Belize can be a better place than what it is today but, for that to happen, we need to get the Belizeans who are nationalistic, committed, qualified and possess the human resources to be at the helm of our future developmental planning to make it happen. Most of Belize’s resources live in the United States and the sooner they tap them, the faster they will have their problems resolved.
Before America became a powerful nation in the world, the founding fathers sat down and planned out America’s path to world dominance. Who are going to be the Belizeans in the group to sit down and plan out Belize’s path?
June 21, 2010
caribbeannetnews
I have always listened to many world leaders speaking about what they would like to accomplish for the citizens of their respective countries during their tenures in office and have very seldom heard any of them committing themselves to provide full time employment to all their citizens.
Yet, if the citizens of a country are unemployed they will not be in the position to provide for themselves and their families, which will leave the burden on the government. A caring government should always make full employment its top priority. Any government that does not have this issue on the top of there list is embarking on an impossible journey. Maybe, if the government of Belize had this issue at the top of their agenda when they first came into office, crime would not be escalating in Belize at the rate it is today. I have looked at several studies over the years and it is documented that there is a direct relationship between crime and employment. When a government has failed to provide meaningful employment to its citizens, a majority of the criminals will use that reason as a justification to commit crimes.
Knowing my Belizean people, a majority of them will say but how come when we were growing up we grew up hard and did not have to commit crimes. Well, we grew up in different times and this new generation is a lot different from the people who grew up during our time.
A majority of these young people are exposed to different things that we were not exposed to when we were growing up and the things that they are currently exposed to are what shape their thoughts and influence their actions. Some of the things as parents and guardians we have control of but a majority of them we lack control over.
The common cry in Belize is that this young generation is lazy and they do not want to do anything but beg, sell drugs and steal. There might be some truth to this but time and things have changed in our country, in all the other countries in the Caribbean and the rest of the world.
It is not the responsibility of the private sector to provide full employment to the citizens of a country. That burden lies on the government through a long term plan that gives incentives to private businesses to invest their funds in the economy where they can make profits for themselves and expand their businesses.
A person that has money to invest will not spend his or her money until they have evaluated a government’s incentive package. If they come to the conclusion that there is nothing there for them, then they will just sit on the side and hold on to their money until the government comes out with a package that is favorable to them.
Most businesses are attracted to tax incentives, inducements and business loans. In Belize, there were several of these given to political parties cronies who were not legitimate business people over the years and the taxpayers’ money went to waste, causing DFC to go bankrupt. Some of these individuals still owe the Belizean taxpayers and they are not being pursued for the outstanding debts.
That same money could have been given to a legitimate business owner who would have provided jobs to many citizens. Giving businesses reasonable tax incentives for hiring people is a wise thing to do. The incentive should be measured and monitored because it will take away from the government’s revenue.
The government of Belize came out with a comprehensive plan to combat crime and it was impressive. If this is backed up by a similar plan to deal with unemployment, land reform and lot acquisition, it will be difficult for them to lose re-election.
Belizeans are tired of seeing foreigners come into their country to be given lots and lands, while they are asked to fill out applications wait for years and never hear back anything from the Lands Department. Plus, when they go to Belmopan there is no record that they ever applied for any lot or land while watching the foreigners living in their new homes and forcefully taking lands to do their farming.
There is enough land in Belize to give every Belizean citizen living in Belize, the United States and abroad a lot and farm land so that they can own a part of their country and be proud citizens, so what is causing this big delay?
The Ministers of Trade, Industry, Labour, Agriculture, Commerce and Foreign Investment must now get together and formulate a comprehensive package to tackle unemployment in Belize. I have not seen any statistics on what is Belize’s unemployment rate but my guess is that it is over 25%. When they brought out the poverty rate recently, it was alarming and this is because of the unemployment situation, which has a major impact on most or the citizens’ social and economic conditions.
If the government of Belize can get a commitment to establish about three large industrial factories in each district and offer lots and farm lands to a majority of the unemployed residents of Belize City to build a home and do farming elsewhere, the country of Belize would become a more prosperous nation.
Belize City is too old and is suffering from serious urban decay and decline. I used to live in Belize City many years ago and it is a different city today. To live in a city just to say you live in a city, where you feel unsafe and insecure is not worth it. In real estate, a person who has a home is always looking for a peaceful, quiet and enjoyable environment to live.
I still believe that our country of Belize can be a better place than what it is today but, for that to happen, we need to get the Belizeans who are nationalistic, committed, qualified and possess the human resources to be at the helm of our future developmental planning to make it happen. Most of Belize’s resources live in the United States and the sooner they tap them, the faster they will have their problems resolved.
Before America became a powerful nation in the world, the founding fathers sat down and planned out America’s path to world dominance. Who are going to be the Belizeans in the group to sit down and plan out Belize’s path?
June 21, 2010
caribbeannetnews
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
CARICOM official calls for new remedies for illicit drugs
GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- “The time has come to consider a change in our approaches to the global fight against drugs. We must act now to find new remedies.”
This was the essence of the challenge made by Dr Edward Greene, CARICOM Secretariat’s Assistant Secretary-General for Human and Social Development to the Drugs Summit of the Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean which opened in Spain on Wednesday morning.
The Summit was convened to address threats to security within the Latin American and the Caribbean regions and to make appropriate recommendations in dealing with those threats.
In providing a context for his recommendations, Dr Greene enumerated a plethora of security issues affecting the Caribbean, chief of which was crime and violence, which he said posed a “clear and present danger’ to the Caribbean. Others include drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings; trafficking in firearms; smuggling of migrants; money laundering and murder.”
He explained further that the enormity of the situation had prompted CARICOM Heads of Government to place security alongside Economic Integration, Foreign Policy Co-ordination and Functional Co-operation as a main pillar of the integration movement. In this regard, he explained that the Community had established a new architecture for crime and security which included a ministerial body - the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE) - and an Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) to focus specifically on challenges and solution to crime and violence in the Region.
Dr Greene pointed out however that notwithstanding the mechanisms in place, there was still an urgent need for further action, and called for new remedies for crime and security within the Caribbean Community.
He implied further that interdiction and eradication efforts had failed to decrease the global supply of drugs and that punitive methods had reaped very little success in lowering drug use. The assistant Secretary-General proffered a three-pronged policy driven approach that the Caribbean had adopted in fighting illicit drugs and illicit trafficking. These are: the adoption of a multidimensional approach, international cooperation and capacity building and research.
The multi-dimensional approach acknowledges that security of the hemisphere include political, economic, social, health and environmental factors and is rooted in the Declaration of Bridgetown 2006, which recognises the “inextricable link between economic disenfranchisement, poverty, conflict, apathy and disillusionment of our citizens,” and agrees that those risk factors could produce “the root causes of terrorism.”
According to Dr Greene, the multi-dimensional approach to security for CARICOM now encompassed “extreme poverty and social exclusion of broad sectors of the population, natural and man made disasters, HIV/AIDS and other health risks and climate change in all its manifestations.” Inherent in all those challenges, he explained, was the risk of social instability which in turn provided a platform for security concerns.
The second policy approach, according to Dr Greene, emphasised international cooperation. In this regard, he underscored the need to establish comprehensive strategic partnerships with extra-regional forces as a deliberate regional security strategy.
Thirdly, Dr Greene pointed to the work of the CARICOM Secretariat in tandem with National Drug Councils and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) to enhance the Region’s capacity in developing anti-drug strategies and plans, as an example of how capacity building through training could assist in drug demand reduction.
He added that CARICOM had also agreed on the development of a regional human resource strategy for crime and security, which would consist of two components: one was the establishment of a Caribbean Institute of Security and Law Enforcement Studies (CISLES), and a proposal by the University of the West Indies (UWI) to establish an Institute of Criminal Justice and Security (ICJS).
April 28, 2010
caribbeannetnews
This was the essence of the challenge made by Dr Edward Greene, CARICOM Secretariat’s Assistant Secretary-General for Human and Social Development to the Drugs Summit of the Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean which opened in Spain on Wednesday morning.
The Summit was convened to address threats to security within the Latin American and the Caribbean regions and to make appropriate recommendations in dealing with those threats.
In providing a context for his recommendations, Dr Greene enumerated a plethora of security issues affecting the Caribbean, chief of which was crime and violence, which he said posed a “clear and present danger’ to the Caribbean. Others include drug trafficking, trafficking in human beings; trafficking in firearms; smuggling of migrants; money laundering and murder.”
He explained further that the enormity of the situation had prompted CARICOM Heads of Government to place security alongside Economic Integration, Foreign Policy Co-ordination and Functional Co-operation as a main pillar of the integration movement. In this regard, he explained that the Community had established a new architecture for crime and security which included a ministerial body - the Council for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE) - and an Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) to focus specifically on challenges and solution to crime and violence in the Region.
Dr Greene pointed out however that notwithstanding the mechanisms in place, there was still an urgent need for further action, and called for new remedies for crime and security within the Caribbean Community.
He implied further that interdiction and eradication efforts had failed to decrease the global supply of drugs and that punitive methods had reaped very little success in lowering drug use. The assistant Secretary-General proffered a three-pronged policy driven approach that the Caribbean had adopted in fighting illicit drugs and illicit trafficking. These are: the adoption of a multidimensional approach, international cooperation and capacity building and research.
The multi-dimensional approach acknowledges that security of the hemisphere include political, economic, social, health and environmental factors and is rooted in the Declaration of Bridgetown 2006, which recognises the “inextricable link between economic disenfranchisement, poverty, conflict, apathy and disillusionment of our citizens,” and agrees that those risk factors could produce “the root causes of terrorism.”
According to Dr Greene, the multi-dimensional approach to security for CARICOM now encompassed “extreme poverty and social exclusion of broad sectors of the population, natural and man made disasters, HIV/AIDS and other health risks and climate change in all its manifestations.” Inherent in all those challenges, he explained, was the risk of social instability which in turn provided a platform for security concerns.
The second policy approach, according to Dr Greene, emphasised international cooperation. In this regard, he underscored the need to establish comprehensive strategic partnerships with extra-regional forces as a deliberate regional security strategy.
Thirdly, Dr Greene pointed to the work of the CARICOM Secretariat in tandem with National Drug Councils and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) to enhance the Region’s capacity in developing anti-drug strategies and plans, as an example of how capacity building through training could assist in drug demand reduction.
He added that CARICOM had also agreed on the development of a regional human resource strategy for crime and security, which would consist of two components: one was the establishment of a Caribbean Institute of Security and Law Enforcement Studies (CISLES), and a proposal by the University of the West Indies (UWI) to establish an Institute of Criminal Justice and Security (ICJS).
April 28, 2010
caribbeannetnews
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