THE antagonistic relationship between residents of inner-city communities, and the police is well known so when 55 young people from the inner city together with 10 police officers began a six-week leadership training course, the atmosphere was tense.

“Some of us were not too fond of them, and we think they didn’t like us,” Kaydian Douglas, an inner-city participant, said of the police.

But at the end of the programme, all participants had bonded, and many had become more than just acquaintances.

“We got to see them as human beings and got to call them friends,” Douglas noted, to nods of approval from other members of the group.

At the graduation ceremony for the programme on Thursday, participants hugged, laughed, and posed for photographs in a show of their comfort in each other’s company.

The graduation was for the 40th cohort of the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce’s Civic Affairs/Inner City Development Committees Youth Leadership Training Programme in downtown Kingston.

Now in its 13th year, the programme is designed to assist residents of inner-city communities to understand their own value system, and to respect the values of those with whom they relate. “This will enable them to take appropriate action to transform their communities by providing effective leadership,” said Winnifred Hunter, manager of Management Services and Executive Education Unit at the University College of the Caribbean (UCC).

The UCC-run course includes interpersonal skills and human relations, entrepreneurship and marketing, conflict resolution and family planning, as well as employability skills.

Hunter in her report on the programme said 65 people – including the 10 police officers, and residents of 12 communities – began the course on October 2.

The police representing the Admiral Town, Motorised, Mobile Reserve, Central and Community Relations divisions, while the community participants came from Bull Bay, Waltham Park, Arnett Gardens, Tivoli Gardens, Brown’s Town, Rockfort, Denham Town, Maxfield Park, Allman Town, Matthews Lane, Portmore and St Thomas.

Of this number, 55 sat the exam, with 46 receiving certificates of achievement, while the other nine got certificates of participation. Certificates of achievement were awarded to participants receiving at least 50 per cent in at least four out of the five modules.

Opal Chasman, reflecting on the programme, said it is “uniquely designed”, and that “there is no one course anywhere that comes with all these modules”.

She also thanked businessman Sameer Younis, the driving force behind the programme.

“Thank you for seeing us, the inner-city residents when we were invisible. We exist to most people when there is an uprising in violence,” she said.

The UCC also awarded scholarships to the top performing male and female participants. They were Crystal Hydol, who scored 473 out of a maximum 500; and Trevor Smith, who scored 435. The top performing member of the police force was Constable Steve Chronicles, who scored 451.

Younis told the Sunday Observer that the programme, which is run usually three times a year, is funded through the JCC Civic Affairs Committee’s Grand Charity Ball, held in November each year as well as corporate sponsorships

Participants are recommended by other graduates, for their involvement in youth clubs and community groups, and must pass an entry test.

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