Latest update January 4th, 2025 5:30 AM
May 19, 2011 Letters
Dear Editor,
I would be the first to admit that I am in no exclusive club when it comes to issues of crime and violence, since these should be of concern to everyone. However, I have noted in the recent past an upsurge in the incidents of crime and violence which cries out for more than just platitudes and ambivalent attitudes.
Simultaneously, we have observed an outpouring of condemnation and demands for concrete and sustainable strategies to deal with alarming and disruptive trend.
The emergence of transnational organised crime has impacted many societies with the sustained growth of trafficking in small arms, drugs and persons, which in turn has facilitated the recruitment of young men between the exploitative ages of 15 and 25 who are the victims and perpetrators of urban violence, and who provide fertile ground for recruitment into criminal gangs.
The apparent pull-factor of easy money is aggravated by marginalisation and exclusion, a breakdown of family structures, the impact of HIV/AIDS, sexual exploitation, trafficking in persons; youth crime and victimization and growing proportions of young urban poor, all of which contribute to an environment of fear and insecurity. Mr. Editor the impact of crime on national development is awesome and to illustrate I take liberties by borrowing and paraphrasing (rather liberally) from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Crime and Development in Africa (Vienna, UNODC, 2005), and relating it contextually to Guyana.
Crime degrades quality of life and can force skilled workers overseas; victimization, as well as fear of crime, interferes with the development of those who remain. Crime impedes access to possible employment and educational opportunities and it discourages the accumulation of assets. Investors see crime…as a sign of social instability, driving up the cost of doing business.
Corruption is even more damaging, perhaps the single greatest obstacle to development. Furthermore, tourism, of large and growing importance…is an industry especially sensitive to crime.
Crime and corruption destroy the relationship of trust between people and the State, undermining democracy. Aside from direct losses of national funds due to corruption, crime can corrode the tax base as the rich bribe tax officials and the poor recede into the shadow economy. Corruption diverts resources into graft-rich public works projects, at a cost to education and health services. p. 67
In all respects the responsibility for ensuring the safety and security of citizens who desire to live in peace and free from the fear of crime resides with the government which is expected to form the necessary partnerships in devising strategies to prevent, detect and confront acts of crime and violence.
With regard to the formation of partnerships by a multiplicity of factors and forms, which require a multi-agency approach and a coordinated response at the local level.
In this scenario two basic principles for tackling urban crime are outlined including: (a) A local approach to problems which requires (i) a local diagnostic survey or safety audit of crime problems; (ii) identifying relevant local actors who should be involved; (iii) setting up local consultation mechanisms; (iv) developing possible solutions to respond to the local problems identified; and (b) An integrated crime prevention action plan which should (i) define the type and nature of crime problems and their causes; (ii) set out the objectives to be achieved within a given time; (iii) describe the action envisaged and who should be responsible for implementing the plan; (iv) consider all the actors to be involved in addition to the justice sector, from elected officials, social workers, education, housing and health, and community organisations, to the economic sector, transport, business and the media; (v) consider the relevance of crime prevention for each of these sectors; and (vi) consider primary prevention action and the prevention of recidivism and protection of victims.
Mr. Editor permit me licence to again borrow – this time from the UN Criminal Justice Assessment Tool to highlight a few of the many questions that crime prevention assessments seek to determine including: the stage of a country’s crime prevention capacity development; whether there exists laws, policies, departmental responsibility, funding, programmes, training and monitoring systems which are necessary components of a strategic approach; the country’s major crime concerns and priorities; the main vulnerable populations at greatest risk of perpetrating crime or becoming the subject of victimization; the main areas of concentration of crime problems – rural, urban etc.; the main urban concerns affecting the incidence of crime; the main rural concerns affecting the incidence of crime; current capacity to develop and sustain strategic crime prevention; levels of recent or current technical assistance.
The foregoing notwithstanding it should not be believed that the existence of crime prevention strategy is a panacea; indeed if a strategy exists it should be able to respond positively to questions on: whether it is responsive to the crime of human trafficking with a focus on educational, social and economic measures; which crime prevention approach does the strategy encompass be it/they social development, community-based, situational and/or social reintegration of offenders; the inclusion of achievable objectives and indicators against which progress can be assessed; whether guidance for implementation of strategies is provided at the regional and/or local levels while facilitating the involvement of local communities; the extant mechanisms to ensure the inclusion and consultation of non-state actors; the Government’s crime prevention priorities as reflected in an action plan which assigns responsibility and time limits, resource plans and budget; implementation targets; whether there has been an evaluation of the overall strategy; a regular monitoring and evaluation of implementation of national strategies; and – what I am sure will be contentious at this time, the likelihood that the Government’s crime prevention policies will be sustained over the medium or long term, with a renewed government mandate, change of minister or (more importantly) a new Government.
Mr. Editor I am sure that all of the presidential candidates would like to provide positive answers to these few areas which could possibly go some way in alleviating the fear of crime that citizens experience on a daily basis while promoting a level of confidence in existing or future crime prevention interventions that so many desire.
Patrick E. Mentore
Jan 04, 2025
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