Community transformation needed to stem crime

Anastasia Cunningham, Senior Gleaner Writer

Community transformation in a holistic, sustainable way is key to achieving the overall objective of stemming crime across Jamaica, believe organisations such as the Peace Management Initiative (PMI) and the Violence Prevention Alliance (VPA).

"Crime reduction and community transformation are not one and the same. Right now, we have crime reduction, but the way of life, the standard of living in these communities remain," said Damion Hutchinson, PMI programme manager for Kingston.

"For instance, the Government dismantled the criminal enterprise in west Kingston. However, there is still hardship, suffering, lack of social amenities, and infrastructure. All the things that give rise to criminal enterprises still exist. So if the communities are not transformed in a holistic way, then crime will rise again. You have to take away the ingredients that are still there to breed crime."

For close to 10 years, various peace programmes have been implemented in communities across the island through the PMI working with the VPA, the Citizens Security and Justice Programme, USAID, the Community Security Initiative, the Jamaica Social Investment Fund, the University Township Programme (August Town), local benevolent societies, and the Parish Crime Prevention Committees (Clarendon), among other organisations.

"These entities have built up a culture of peace-building in these communities, and finding alternative ways to resolve conflict, and addressing some of the divisive issues," said Hutchinson.

He said although the PMI has not done a statistical analysis since the west Kingston incursion last year, since the intervention, there has been a significant drop in homicides. However, they are not claiming exclusive responsibility.

Statistics from the Jamaica Constabulary Force show a 42 per cent decline in homicides in four divisions of the Kingston Metropolitan Area over the five-year period 2005-2009. The divisions are Kingston Central, Kingston East, Kingston West, and St Andrew Central.

model communities

The model communities include August Town, Trench Town, Rose Town, Greater Brown's Town, Flankers, and Cannan Heights, which not only enjoy a significant reduction in crime, but very active community activities and programmes that have greatly helped with the peace initiative.

"The communities themselves have bought into the idea of managing their own safety and crime situation," he said.

Dr Elizabeth Ward, chairman, VPA, said part of the success was engaging the communities to identify problems and key persons in the conflict, inviting persons in conflict to closed-door mediation, and developing a platform for community safety, healing, and reconciliation programmes.

Other strategies employed were border integration, counselling and therapy for victims, establishing peace councils to sustain a communication network among communities, having democratic representation in councils, and facilitating a space for other partners and stakeholders to enter and re-enter the communities to focus on the overall development of the community.

Hutchinson added, "When you transform the social and physical infrastructure in the communities, it is not so much about fighting crime anymore, but it is making these communities safer. You are transforming them into a place where people can live comfortably and enjoy a certain level of human dignity, so you are also transforming a state of mind as well."

He said for the Government to achieve its Vision 2030 plan and reduce the overall crime level, it was imperative that there be a clear articulated vision and unified plan of action in targeting the issues

"We have had success in pockets, but have not managed to have the overall impact that we would like to have. They are not very coordinated in that one does not impact the other," he said.

"We are doing very good work in our own mandated areas, but that overall programme of giving the people living in these communities a vision is missing. To say to them, 'Listen, this is what we want these communities to look like by 2030, this is how we intend to get there, this is what you will have to sacrifice to get there and this is what the Government intends to put on the table to get there', that is missing. The Government must articulate that vision for the people to buy into it."

He said the Planning Institute of Jamaica's Community Renewal Programme was the first step in creating the road map for change in these communities.

anastasia.cunningham@gleanerjm.com