Community policing in The Bahamas and wider Caribbean Region

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

Bahamas Blog International