Crime in the Caribbean: What must the region do?

By Anton E. Edmunds


Caribbean governments’ focus on crime has recently taken on increased urgency.   Pressures at home from previously silent populations, and visitors and investors alike noting crime as a factor in deciding where they go makes the issue one that can no longer be ignored.   While many try to blame crime levels on the deportation of criminals from North America and the UK, the reality is probably closer to home -- the vaunted social fabric of Caribbean countries is frayed.

Urbanization and the loss of social and familial community linkages, it is argued by some, is the problem.   This combined with underemployment among the youth and a lack of programs that provide skills training for the jobs that are available is also a factor, leaving many increasingly dependent on an informal job market that offers little in terms of a sustainable future.

Weak legal systems, which encourage a sense of impunity by bad actors, are not helpful, and weak border controls that facilitate the inter-island movement of drugs and small arms allow for negative inputs.   The use of the region as a hub for illicit traffic of drugs to the US further strains efforts of governments to protect themselves and their vulnerable populations.

In terms of solutions, an increased focus on community development and outreach programs from both the political and corporate elite can help mitigate against losing a generation exposed to limited options for a productive and legal future.   That said, corporate social responsibility programming is not yet a fully understood and developed concept in the Caribbean.   Finally, adaptation of the traditional school curricula to one that focuses attention on programs that correspond to current needs can be positive.

The above, combined with community policing initiatives that position trained and trusted law enforcement personnel in host communities can serve to ensure that fringe populations feel less divorced from upscale and often enclave centres.   An improved and efficient legal system that can leverage social initiatives to train and assist first time offenders can also address recidivism concerns.   Introduction of a restorative justice system (successfully implemented in some countries) where it does not exist in the Caribbean may be helpful in this regard.

An interconnected Caribbean region means increased movement of people and goods.   The effective sharing of information on crime; persons linked to crime; and the movement of guns and drugs is fundamental for any regional success.   A sharing of best practices in this arena and the support of these efforts by donor countries such as the United States is critical.   Further to the US-Caribbean partnership on addressing crime, a focus by both partners on the development of modular programs that build on past successes is key; as is the ability of initiatives to survive changes in administrations.

In closing, the Caribbean must become a stronger advocate for its interests and needs, articulating plans for implementation rather than wait for the delivery of fully formed solutions from the US.

The above was a response to recent statements on crime and regional dysfunction in addressing the issue by Trinidad & Tobago Minister of National Security Jack Warner.

July 31, 2012

Caribbeannewsnow 

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

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Bahamas Blog International

US defense secretary says Obama administration 're-engaging with Caribbean'

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CUOPM) -- United States Secretary of Defense Robert M Gates said he hopes Friday’s regional security summit in Barbados and President Barack Obama’s Caribbean Basin Security Initiative send a strong signal that “the United States is reengaging with this region” after drawing down its presence following the 9/11 terror attacks.

Speaking at a joint news conference Friday with seven Caribbean government and national security leaders Gates said he’s impressed by the innovative approaches being taken to promote collective security through the initiative.

Following what he called a “very productive” meeting to discuss furthering those efforts, Gates lauded the Caribbean nations’ work toward marshalling limited resources to address common threats such as narco-trafficking and violent crime.

These challenges touch US shores as well, and demand that regional nations mount a united front to confront them, Gates said during a joint news conference with Barbadian Prime Minister David Thompson and St Kitts and Nevis Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Sam Condor.

Gates conceded that the drug trafficking problem has worsened due to the success of the Merida Initiative and Mexico’s crackdown on drug cartels there.

“Narco-trafficking is a problem for the hemisphere as a whole,” he said, “and wherever you put pressure, the traffickers will go where there is less resistance and where there is less capability.”

Going forward, Gates said he would like to see broader efforts to connect the regional security system here with efforts under way outside the Eastern Caribbean. This includes efforts by the French, Dutch, Colombians, Peruvians and US Southern Command’s Joint Interagency Task Force.

The secretary praised Barbados as a strong US security partner and a leader in promoting security cooperation in the Eastern Caribbean.

“The United States stands steadfastly with you as you pursue long-term solutions to these problems,” Gates said after meeting with the Prime Ministers and national security ministers.

Much of that support is provided through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative that President Barack Obama proposed last April during the Summit of the Americans in Trinidad and Tobago.

The initiative has been built with extensive input from Caribbean nations with a central role for the regional security system, Gates noted Friday, all aimed at helping regional governments face up to transnational threats.

The $45 million the United States has committed to the effort this year will help improve regional maritime patrol and interdiction capabilities and domain awareness and provide for additional joint training and exercises, he said.

Gates said details about how these funds will be allocated are being hammered out by technical working groups, with one convened Friday in Washington.

He emphasized that regional nations will be the ones to help determine how the funding can be most effective. The United States already has committed three interceptor boats and communications equipment, but Gates said he heard suggestions on Friday about the need for more law enforcement training and the stand-up of major crimes units.

However, Gates emphasized that the Caribbean initiative represents more as it provides a comprehensive approach to regional security. Its scope extends beyond military and security assistance to address equally critical components of the region’s economic and social stability.

The initiative aims to provide, “not just improved security capabilities to confront immediate threats, but also development assistance in hopes of addressing the root causes of regional problems, such as the lack of educational and employment opportunities, particularly for youth,” Gates said. “That is a strategy we strongly support.”

Fifteen Caribbean Basin nations are included in the security initiative: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.

April 17, 2010

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Bahamas Blog International

US urged to curb trafficking of weapons to the Caribbean

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CUOPM) -- As St Kitts and Nevis and other Caribbean states tackle the problem of crime, a former Antigua and Barbuda diplomat has warned that unless the United States takes the lead to put measures in place to curb the trafficking of weapons and drugs through the region, the situation will worsen.

According to CMC, Sir Ronald Sanders, who twice served as the Caribbean nation’s High Commissioner to London, said the issue of drugs, arms and crime is “the gravest problem” facing the countries of the Caribbean and Latin America - with the exception of Cuba. He said while in the past the US, Canada and European government have concentrated on cutting the supply through eradication and interdiction with limited success, “it is clearly the time to rethink this strategy.”

The former diplomat said that in doing so, the authorities in those countries must do so in full collaboration with both the producing and transit countries, both of whom “are as much the victims of the trade” as the countries in which the huge markets reside.

“Almost every country has the same problem and many of the smuggled weapons, when captured are traceable to the United States. This suggests that the absence of a vigorous policy to curb arms sales is unintentionally contributing to crime in Central America and the Caribbean,” Sir Ronald told a recent gathering of high-ranking military officers at the Royal College of Defence Studies in London.

He said countries of the region are overwhelmed by the crime that has developed as a consequence of drug trafficking. “In many cases, their police forces are out-gunned by the weapons available to drug gangs and they lack the numbers, the equipment and other resources to combat the problem,” Sir Ronald told the officers from Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

“In conditions of economic decline and increased unemployment, drug trafficking and its attendant other crimes escalate, as they are now doing throughout the region,” said the former chairman of the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force against drug trafficking and money laundering.

“The US government could make an enormous contribution to resolving this huge problem by passing legislation and implementing machinery to control arms smuggling; by reviewing the practice of deporting convicted felons to their countries of origin; and by adopting measures to stop legal sale of assault weapons.”

The former Antigua and Barbuda envoy said in addition Washington should take a lead in organising collaborative arrangements with Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean to establish a comprehensive anti-narcotic programme that addresses both supply and demand.

“If this is not done, the problem of drug-trafficking and its attendant high crime will continue to plague Central America and the Caribbean with a terrible destabilising effect on the small economies that are least able to cope,” Sir Ronald warned in the CMC report.



September 22, 2009



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