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| Ministry Of National Security |
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 (Basseterre) At its recently convened conference at the St. Kitts Royal Marriott Hotel, FBI and other law enforcement officials from throughout the hemisphere discussed best practices techniques and lessons learned regarding youth crime and gang violence. In attendance were members of the FBI National Academy Associates, a law enforcement organization with 15,000 members worldwide.
Ms. Diedre Butler, Unit Chief of the FBI’s National Gang Intelligence Center at FBI Headquarters in Washington, DC, stressed that the law enforcement component of fighting youth crime is made necessary as a result of society not being sufficiently involved in the lives of young people BEFORE they become criminals. Law enforcement, she explained, is the final stage in a very long societal process. If society did more on the front end, she continued, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies would be confronted with far fewer criminal and violent acts later on.
She warned that children from unstable homes, in particular, are heavily influenced by the media’s glamorization of crime and violence and are, therefore, in special need of societal intervention. According to Butler, societies worldwide must develop positive, appealing programs to assist vulnerable youth, in order to undermine the appeal of violence, crime, and gangs. Ms. Butler was a panelist in a session titled “Youth Crime and Gang Violence”. She explained that it is also FBI strategy to removes gang leaders from the community via harsh and lengthy prison sentences. ~~Adz:Right~~
Buiding on Butler’s theme, Roger Trott, Executive Director of the FBI’s National Academy Associates, explained that in their struggle to prevent vulnerable youth from actually becoming criminals, the FBI has established an Adopt-A-School program in the United States. In addition, the agency also has FBI community outreach staffers who go into the schools, not as police officers, but simply as FBI employees, where they try to be positive forces in the lives of vulnerable students.
Doulgas Shipley of the FBI’s Barbados office shared with conference participants the crime prevention benefits of an innovative program in Barbados that helps impoverished young people with no contacts, no collateral, no experience, and (supposedly) no future, establish their own small businesses. These young businesspersons are also provided with business mentors to guide them and stabilize them throughout the process.
When these at-risk young people are given these opportunities, Shipley explained, they have a lower default rate on their loans than traditional banks experience with traditional customers. Most importantly, (i) this program dramatically reduces the appeal of crime as a way of making a living for these young people, and (ii) the society inherits grassroots success stories that serve to inspire and encourage other at-risk young people.
Sheriff Richard Randall of Kendall County, Illinois discussed the importance of crime prevention to the thousands of sheriffs serving throughout the United States, and had high praise for the “Fight Crime – Invest in Kids” campaign being embraced by sheriffs all across the United States. This program, Sheriff Randall explained, depends totally on the voluntary involvement of ordinary individuals concerned about saving their societies – and the young people – from the scourge of youth violence and crime.
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