Belinda Wilson - President - Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) supports the government’s school policing programme ...saying that the presence of officers on school grounds will aid in conflict resolution and combat instances of students carrying dangerous weapons

Union Chief Backs Programme

By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson voiced her support of the government’s school policing programme, saying the presence of officers on school grounds will aid in conflict resolution and combat instances of students carrying dangerous weapons.

“Our executive committee, we have discussed this and we are pleased to partner with the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of National Security, and more particularly with the Commissioner (of Police Ellison Greenslade),” Ms Wilson said at a press conference at Police Headquarters for the unveiling of the programme.

“I want to also note the Commissioner tried very hard last year to have this initiative developed because we had a meeting and we agreed that the police officers will assist, and they did, so I’m happy now to see that the programme is going to be expanded.”

Ms Wilson said she wants to stress that stationing officers in schools will aid administrators and security guards already present in resolving disagreements and gathering “intelligence”.

“The police are not only going to be there for crimes, but based on the information that I have, they will be there to help with conflict resolution. They will be able to identify some of the problems, prior to the problems happening,” she said.

“You will have intelligence on the ground in the school. When you talk about a cutlass-wielding child, when you talk about the child that was in an altercation over the weekend and gets to school early on Monday and stashes a gun, a knife, a dagger, a cutlass – that’s not the teacher’s job.”

Asked if teachers are seeing such scenarios presently, Ms Wilson said: “Yes we are. That isn’t anything new – we’ve been seeing it. So we’re saying now if the police are there and they’re able to complement the security officers then that should really be able to cut down on the incidents that we’ve seen, so we’re happy about it.”

Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald announced last week officers will be stationed in schools across the islands come the start of the new term in September.

He said the programme would in no way diminish or make obsolete the authority and responsibility of administrators, teachers and security officers. Rather the officers would complement the disciplinary programmes and strategies already in place.

August 28, 2012

Tribune242 

Caribbean Blog International

Community policing, Urban Renewal and The Bahamas' crime problem

tribune242 editorial



ANY POLITICAL party that tells a community that Urban Renewal, whether it be Urban Renewal 2.0 or 4.04, is a quick fix for this country's crime problem is fooling the people by encouraging them to clutch at moonbeams.

This is not to denigrate Urban Renewal, which is a long-term solution, the effects of which will probably not be able to be properly assessed until the next generation.

However, for those who want to see the ugly head of crime crushed with the utmost speed, community policing is one of the many answers. In fact, community policing - the initiative of the Royal Bahamas Police Force - morphed into Urban Renewal and, unfortunately, into the arms of politicians during the Christie administration.

We have been told that the Urban Renewal programme received an international award. In fact, it was not Urban Renewal that received the award from the International Association of Commissioners of Police (IACP). Rather, it was the Royal Bahamas Police Force. And this was how their community initiative was described in the IACP's 1999-2006 report: "The Royal Bahamas Police Force worked with area residents to form a community task force comprising officers, members of local churches, the business community, residents, and reformed gang members. The task force patrolled the streets on foot, and in vehicles 24 hours a day, seven days a week, leaving criminals little time or space in which to operate."

Now this is where Urban Renewal came in: "The task force," said the IACP, "also worked with the Departments of Social Services, Housing, Environmental Health, and Public Works to improve living conditions."

One of the award winners was Farm Road's marching band, started by the police with the assistance of business persons. There was no political affiliation with this programme. The boast today of the Eastern Division's marching band, again a police creation, is that they are of award-winning standard. When Urban Renewal came along, the police continued their community policing programmes, but got diverted to add muscle to the work of social workers who government had introduced into the various communities under the name of Urban Renewal. Of course, things moved more efficiently when backed by a police officers' orders.

For example, if an Environmental department employee gave instructions for the removal of derelict cars, they could expect some "lip". But for the order to come from a police officer, it was a "yes, suh" and a shuffle into speedy action.

However, one of the many criticisms of what is now known as Urban Renewal was that the workers who were attached to the programme were especially selected by PLP politicians. It was soon discovered that serious people were sitting around a table having discussions with persons who could hardly read or write.

It did not take the Ingraham administration long to understand how community policing had been hijacked. As a result, the police were removed from the social services side of the programmes and sent back to doing what they did best and for which they had won an international award -- community policing. That does not mean that if needed the various social services cannot call on them for assistance. They are called on, and they do respond.

According to Mr Christie, the urban renewal programme established by his government offered people hope. It had had noteworthy results in communities in which it had been established. He promised that if returned he would renew Urban Renewal with a stepped-up programme -- Urban Renewal 2.0.

"There is a compelling need in this country for us to recognise that we are out of control with crime and that we do know the influences that are affecting the young people," Mr Christie told members of the House in discussing the various crime bills then being debated.

Meanwhile, the police are continuing with their community programmes - among them after-school programmes for young people. There are the after-school programmes in the Eastern Division, highlighting Fox Hill, the Western Division, and the Central division with the 242 model programme for young people with behavioural challenges. The Southern Division has included in its programmes a Crime Watch Group for business persons to assist them in patrolling their businesses.

And so social services -- a branch of Urban Renewal -- continues with its programmes in the communities, while the police are now free to step up their community programmes in addition to tracking down criminals.

November 01, 2011

tribune242 editorial

Caribbean Blog International

Lots of gun crime in The Bahamas

Driving down crime
The Nassau Guardian Editorial


There are many parts to the overall strategy of driving down crime.

Aggressive policing is a must. It helps as well if police officers work within neighborhoods to build relationships so residents are more comfortable talking with police officers before and after a crime is committed.

It’s also important that special task forces go after particular crimes or zero in on high-crime areas.

There’s another part of the strategy that’s important, and that has to do with reducing the number of guns on our streets.

According to the 2010 crime statistics released last week, firearms were used in 69 of the 94 murders recorded. Firearms were also used in other serious crimes, such as armed robberies, housebreakings and burglaries, and in many cases, threats of death.

In 2010, 351 illegal firearms and 6,224 rounds of ammunition were seized. Those figures are up over the year before. In 2009, 312 illegal firearms and 4,388 rounds of ammunition were seized.

Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade has even agreed that it is time for the existing Firearms Unit to become an autonomous body given the high number of gun-related crimes.

In this space last week, The Nassau Guardian called for the government and judiciary to consider the establishment of a Gun Court to expedite the trials of suspects of gun-related crime.

Attorney General John Delaney announced on Friday that a Gun Court would be created in an attempt to ensure that those found with illegal firearms are quickly prosecuted. Gun charges will be isolated from other charges an individual may face.

The goal is to ensure that those found in possession of illegal firearms are incarcerated rather than being allowed to reoffend.

“The government is determined to make a full-frontal assault on firearm offenses,” said Delaney at Friday’s press conference, which was also attended by Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest and senior officers from the Royal Bahamas Police Force, and took place following a meeting with Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham on gun crime.

A special inter-agency task force has also been set up to address the issue of illegal firearm possession.

The government should be commended for establishing the special court and task force, but it should not stop there.

Our gun laws are reasonably strict when it comes to gun ownership and are among the toughest in the region. The maximum penalty for illicit possession of firearms is five years imprisonment and a fine of $10,000.

The Gun Court will help ensure that suspects are quickly prosecuted, but laws must also be beefed up to ensure that individuals found guilty of such crimes do not get off easy. Special legislation is also needed to punish those found in possession of illegal assault rifles and machine guns.

We have a lot of gun crime in this country.

But a Gun Court, if operated properly, should not only help get some of those guns off the streets, but also save lives and family trauma.

That’s an important part of any crime-fighting strategy.

1/31/2011

The Nassau Guardian Editorial

Bahamas Blog International

No Quick Fix to Crime Crisis

The Bahama Journal Editorial


For what it is worth, we suggest that all who would wish to help make the Bahamas a safer and healthier place for its citizens and its residents might begin with taking it as fact revealed that, no matter what this or that politician says to the contrary; there is no easy fix to the crime crisis that has for so long engulfed this island-nation of ours.

Were we to move in this direction, we would find that – as a people united in service and love- could and should work together to do more to help stamp out this scourge.

It is also indubitably the case that our great friend to the north [the United States of America] bears a great degree of responsibility for some of the damage done to small island states such as ours where – despite the expenditure of huge amounts of money – gangsters are able to pollute and pervert many who cross their paths.

While this is self-evident to all right-thinking Bahamians, there are still those Bahamians who relish in concocting placeboes or otherwise, conjuring up easy rationalizations concerning a crime problem that has become endemic.

In addition, and therefore regrettably; the question concerning crime, policing and public safety has become highly politicized; with the prime minister claiming that, he was satisfied that the police are doing a good job, and as such, commended them for their work.

In stark contrast, the Opposition Progressive Liberal Party is convinced that, The Free National Movement (FNM) Government has no clue how to tackle crime and has “miserably failed” Bahamians and visitors alike by not dealing with various crime challenges, according to the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP).

In a sense, this complaint is far too easy; ignoring as it does, the fact that, the roots of crime run deep in an island-nation that has been described by some, as a smugglers’ paradise.

In this regard, then, both the leadership of the Progressive Liberal Party and that of the Free National Movement and the hundreds of thousands of decent law-abiding people they represent have all been victimized by criminals in our midst.

This is a fact; and so as today we revert to some of what Mr. Ingraham says in his administration’s defense, we note that, the nation’s chief insists, "I am very pleased with the job they are doing. I suspect that they will have even a greater success in the coming weeks and coming months because I suspect they will be more focused on specific areas and persons who are presumed to be involved in significant activity.

Mr. Ingraham also suggested that, "One of our biggest problems in this country is drugs. Drugs are influencing many of the crimes that are being committed - especially those that are related to murder. Many of them are hit killers, where people are contracted to do so, or where there are turf wars between various persons…”

Tellingly, while Mr. Ingraham also admits that, "Our system, to some extent, is not quite functional…” the fact remains that, the system needs serious overhaul, renovation and re-tooling if a dent is to be made in a congeries of problems that continues to pose a clear and present threat to all decent, law-abiding Bahamians and residents.

Indeed, those who lead and those who would lead should be either up and doing or sending out for help in dealing with this crime scourge.

It stands to reason that if there was a quick fix to this nation and to this region’s struggles with the scourge of crime; that so-called ‘solution’ would have been found.

And so, with this conclusion as our opening gambit; we would venture that, the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham’s hope that, he – for whatever reason – expects that – the police will have "greater" successes in the coming weeks and months in battling crime.

The prime minister claims that, “There will be a greater focus on "specific" perpetrators of violent crime within the country…”

Here we presume that whatever the prime minister is saying comes by way of informed advisement from the nation’s top cop, the Commissioner of Police.

While we understand and appreciate what the prime has said about how the police will now go about their work, we seriously question the thinking behind this notion of this or that person labeled as ‘specific perpetrators of violent crime’.

Here we would have thought that, this would have been the norm for our nation’s police force and its proactive leadership.

The sum of the matter then is that, we are today absolutely convinced that, the time has come for all Bahamians to work together to help in rooting out the canker that crime has become in our beloved Bahamas.

December 2nd, 2010

The Bahama Journal Editorial

Bahamas Blog International