AUGUST Town residents, weary of their community making the headlines because of horrific acts of violence, say they are devoted to changing its image with the breather brought on by the zone of special operations (ZOSO) now in force.

According to chairman of the August Town Community Development Council (CDC) Andre Curtis, since the declaration of the ZOSO in July, “there have been no shootings, no crime or violence” in the community, which numbers between 10,000 to 15,000 people.

Speaking Sunday at a virtual church service at the Haven of Hope Open Bible Church in the area to mark the start of Community Month islandwide, Curtis said, over the next two years, the CDC would be addressing six areas in order to rebrand the community.

“We want to manage the narrative coming out of the community. How many of you always hear about August Town in the news? How many times do you hear positive information about August Town? Very little,” he said.

According to the CDC chairman, part of the fix would involve parents.

“We identified that there is a fundamental problem in parenting, and so we want to address parenting as one of those strategies over the next two years,” Curtis told the gathering.

“We want to strengthen parenting skills within the community, we believe we have a challenge as far as parenting is concerned; we want to see how we can impact parents to help them do better,” he explained.

He said the CDC also aims to improve the educational outcome of children and youth in the community, and reduce the likelihood of school dropouts and teenage pregnancy.

“The final objective is to promote safety and security for our children, and reduce the possibility of children and youth getting involved in gangs. We want to see how we can help the police with the work. If we can cut off the youngsters from getting involved in the gangs, then it means the police can focus on other crimes in the community,” he stated.

He said, too, that the CDC was also aiming to strengthen the various community groups in existence, while repositioning to attract funding from private donors for projects.

In the meantime, the August Town Schools in Curfew initiative, that began on November 2 and spanned five districts in the area, has had the desired effect, according to CDC Vice-Chair Sergeant Ricardo McAlpin.

“We are grateful for the partnership with… the citizens. The programme has the support of all stakeholders, thus we have 17 monitors to monitor children across the five districts. I am happy to report on the positive outcome at the end of the first week, as it has been reported that in all of the districts no children were seen on the road during school hours,” he said.

Sergeant McAlpin, however, said issues of low or no Internet connectivity in parts of African Gardens, and the non-compliance of a few parents, could affect the success of the initiative, which caters to an estimated 700 students under 18 years.

“We aim to address those in the upcoming week, and as recommendations going forward, we are looking at developing the capacity of our parents through planning of parental workshops and also one-to-one discussions with vulnerable parents. We are seeking the assistance of the church in providing counselling support for parents and children, if necessary,” he added.

Senior Superintendent of Police Jacqueline Coombs, head of the St Andrew Central division, said August Town has come a far way.

“We have grown; since ZOSO there has been a lot of change, we have come a far way, a lot remains to be done,” she noted.

Commenting on Curtis’s emphasis on preventing children from becoming part of gangs, she said: “This is something the commissioner of police has mandated…because what we realise is we have these unattached youth who become a headache in the community… And so we are committed to assisting the CDC, especially when it comes to this curfew that children must be off the road between the hours of 8:00 am and 2:00 pm,” SSP Coombs pledged.