| KINGSTON, May 21 (JIS): |
 A
Parish Crime Prevention programme, aimed at implementing specially
targeted crime fighting initiatives in each parish, is to be launched
shortly.National Security Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips, who made the announcement, during his contribution to the 2004/05 Sectoral Debate in Gordon House last week, said the programme would begin in Clarendon, which has the second highest number of murders in rural parishes. Dr. Phillips said the programme was borne out of a national effort to engage communities in a major crime prevention strategy that would enable them to share responsibility for maintaining their own security. He pointed out that crime was far too pervasive and had corroded too many communities and institutions to be a matter for security forces alone. “The financial, social and human costs are too great,” he stated. He noted that the need for community involvement in the fight against crime was at the heart of the deliberations of the National Consultative Committees action plan for this year. The Committee has recommended for priority action: anti-extortion; targeting of criminal gangs; an incentive programme to reward ‘at-risk’ communities, which have maintained the peace; and the review of the effectiveness of the criminal justice system.
Dr. Phillips said that already, some success had been achieved in
community-based efforts to stem crime, with the implementation of
the Peace Management Initiative, which he said, “has made
a significant contribution to reducing the tension in many communities”. |
