Central St James MP calls for review of anti-gang strategy
ST JAMES, Jamaica — Central St James Member of Parliament Heroy Clarke is calling on the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to review its anti-gang strategy.
“We need, in western Jamaica, an indigenous anti-gang strategy,” Clarke said, adding that there is no short-term fix, but a medium to long term sustained approach should be looked at if the administration is serious about achieving five per cent growth in four years.
Clarke argued that the prevention, intervention, suppression, and assessment approach used by members of the JCF is well-known worldwide.
“We seem not to realise, perhaps, that the goal post has moved several times and the age group we are targeting keeps moving, as such this could be one of the causes why we are not seeing the desired results,” Clarke reasoned.
In regards to the JCF’s assessment approach, Clarke commended the police but noted that there is a lack of trust by communities, which renders assessment on paper and in filing cabinets or on a computer’s hard drive useless, for the most part.
Clarke said that in 2017, he hopes for a more holistic anti-gang crime strategy that will be reviewed and renewed to stop the bloodletting in St James.
