BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - IN an increased effort to combat gang-related criminal activities and to protect the Federation’s future leaders, Commissioner of Police Celvin ‘CG’ Walwyn has implemented a number of initiatives, with the latest targeting children under 16 years who are seen on the streets after 10:00 p.m. without reasonable excuse.
“There is also a night time Juvenile Arrest and Monitoring Officer who patrols the streets at nights, and if it is after 10 p.m. and an under 16 years of age juvenile is found unaccompanied by an adult and the juvenile cannot satisfy the enquiry of the officer, that juvenile is taken to the nearest police station and the parent either picks up the child from the station or the child spends the night at the station,” Commissioner Walwyn is quoted as saying in a police press release.
He was at the time speaking out against youth violence in the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis.
The Commissioner however stressed that the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force is not about locking up children, but about “giving our children alternatives to gangs, guns, drugs and violence”.
In his opening statement, Commissioner Walwyn made reference to the Zakers murder trial and thanked the police officers and the prosecution team in bringing the matter to Court. He also commended the jurors for ensuring justice was served.
“The Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force in unison with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions thank the police officers and prosecutors who sought justice for the Zakers family in the recent court trial. The Jury is to be commended for their dedication in ensuring that justice for the Zakers family was received. There are no winners in this trial, the Zakers family have lost a son through a senseless killing seen all too often throughout the Caribbean. The young men who were convicted are among the all too common statistics of our young men being decimated or incarcerated due to an epidemic of senseless violence among the youth.”
The trial came to an end last Friday (May 9) when Moses Gardener, Shenroy Francis, Nelson Challenger, Romi Rawlins and Glenroy Smithen, all of St. Paul’s Village, were found guilty of murdering Gregory Zakers whose body was discovered on a cliff at Black Rocks on April 12, 2008.
Using the trial as the platform for his message to the nation, the Top Cop declared that he knows the Federation has a problem that needs to be addressed with alternatives to the issue of gangs and gang-related violence.
He posited that in order to combat crime and devastation perpetrated by criminal gangs, communities must first recognise when gangs have gained a foothold in their neighbourhoods.
“When a community has gangs, there are drugs. Where there are drugs, there are guns. Where there are drugs and guns, there are homicides. I believe that the citizens of the Federation have accepted this as a fact. The success of gang reduction strategies will only be recognised when law enforcement, school officials, community leaders, business owners and local citizens collectively conduct a thorough and accurate analysis of the situation in their communities and when a gang presence is discovered, acknowledge the true nature of a gang presence in their community,” Commissioner Walwyn explained.
The Top Cop however pointed what needs to be done by members of a community that is not receptive to gangs.
“In order for a community to become inhospitable to gangs, a supportive law enforcement presence must be put in place as the foundation to regain economic sustainability, and promote a safe and healthy environment. Studies conducted by law enforcement have discovered that communities that work with law enforcement and crime prevention experts have experienced successes in driving the presence of gangs out of their neighbourhoods and have seen the crime rate of their neighbourhoods decline.”
He emphasised that evidence of this lies in St. Kitts with the School Resource Officer Programme and the presence of full-time officers in the Cayon and Sandy Point High Schools.
Commissioner Walwyn noted that through the sanctioning of a programme aimed at saving the nation’s children from self-destruction, the Federal Government teamed with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office of Orlando, Florida and began teaching the Mentoring Advising Guiding and Instructing Children (MAGIC) Programme, which is geared at reaching elementary school children before they go to high school.
This 10-week programme (MAGIC), he explained, offered children alternatives to gangs, guns, drugs and violence, and that 374 elementary school children recently graduated from the programme.
He informed that the Federal Government, in support of the police force and the efforts to reduce juvenile crime within the Federation, would be partnering with the Houston Police and a Teens and Police (TAP) programme, which is aimed at closing the gap between police and teenagers in high school. “It is a very successful 11-week programme used in high schools,” he added.
In ending his message to the nation, the Top Cop said: “Our society cannot afford to have any more senseless killings like Mr. Zakers. Therefore, this administration is dedicated to establishing a policy that will actively work towards removing the criminal activity and terrorism perpetrated by criminal gangs upon the citizens of this Federation. We ask the public support as we embark on recovering the peace and safety of our Federation.”
