Community members might be interested in two reports that are relevant to the development of this new GoJ Crime Prevention and Community Safety.  Firstly, UNDP's Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery has just published a Concept Paper on Community Security and Social Cohesion (CSSC), based on a review of UNDP programmes in 13 countries.  This report can be found in the community safety folder in the JamPFP resource library ('UNDP BCPR CSSC Concept Paper Final').  UNDP's experience shows that there are a number of issues that are often important for CSSC in a range of environments including:

-  Enhancing local governance, strengthening local instiutions and encouraging popular participation in local political processes.

- Strengthening the rule of law and access to justice at the local level.

- Resolving conflict and supporting peacebuilding.

- Providing alternative opportunities for income generation and better livelihoods (particularly for young men).

- Improving the community environment and enhancing service delivery.

- Addressing small arms proliferation and the demand for weapons.

- Taking a public health approach to crime and violence.

Secondly, the Government of Jamaica (with support from UNDP and CIDA) last year commissioned an independent assessment of community security programmes "to determine the most effective strategies for promoting community safety and security".  Residents of 11 volatile and vulnerable communities where interventions had taken place were asked whether safety had increased in their community over the last two years and, if so, what the reasons for this were.  The top three reasons given by respondents in the household survey as to why the level of safety in their community had increased were:

- Improved policing (22%).  The introduction of a community policing approach was normally the key explanation.

- Reduced political tensions (14%)

- Stronger Community Development Committee (12%)

These findings were backed up by interviews with key local stakeholders and focus groups in communites.  The study concluded therefore that community security programmes should prioritise improving community policing and strengthening CDCs in order to have the greatest impact on crime and violence.  The cumulative effect of a combination of different social interventions on reducing criminal activities and political tensions was also identified.  The study concluded that social interventions would have an even greater impact on crime and violence if they were more specifically targeted at at-risk male youth.  This report can be found in the community safety folder in the JamPFP resource library ('Final Community Security Assessment Report').

Best regards,

Andrew McLean

Senior Adviser

Jamaica Violence Prevention, Peace and Sustainable Development Programme

Draft Crime Prevention and Community Safety Strategy of the Ministry of National Security, Policy Directorate

___________________________________________________________________________

Response of the Bureau of Women's Affairs

"Jamaica, the place of choice  to live, work, raise families and do business"

Vision 20/30 Jamaica National Development Plan

The Government of Jamaica has committed to developing an inter-departmental Crime Prevention and Community Safety strategy.  This is in recognition of the need for a more integrated multi-stakeholder approach to the safety challenges facing citizens and communities.  The MNS Crime Prevention and Community Safety Branch has begun to work with other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to develop this inter-departmental strategy utilizing a participatory and coherent approach that will result in the implementation of policies designed to prevent crime, reduce violence, particularly youth and gang related violence.

 The development process of the Crime Prevention and Community Safety Strategy is led by the Crime Prevention and Community Safety Branch in the MNS Policy Directorate.

The following comments of the Bureau of Women's Affairs is in keeping with the of equal rights, equal opportunities, progress for all.   The 20/30 vision  demonstrate the  negative impact of crime on low GDP growth, proliferation of international criminal networks, the crippling impact of the fear of crime at household levels and to the business community   in terms of  erosion of human capabilities in declining school attendance and  reduced employment opportunities  and  declining social investment and increased security cost. A holistic approach must exhibit connectivity with existing vision  macroeconomic trajectory as well as build on past performance of Jamaica 2015.

Terms of Reference for crime prevention and community safety (vision20/30)

Goal 2: The Jamaican Society is secure, cohesive and just

National outcome #5: Security and Safety

5.1       Strengthen the Capacities of Communities to participate in creating a Safe and Secure Society pp.108

            Table 19 :  Proposed Indicators and Targets for National Outcome #5 (pp.110)

National Outcome #6: Effective Governance

6.1       Strengthen the Process of Citizen Participation in Governance

            Table  18 :  National Strategies and Responsible Agencies -Effective Governance (pp.118))

            Table 19: Proposed Indicators and Targets for National Outcome #69 (pp.125)

Table 50:   Key Strategies and Actions under the National Outcomes for Years 1-3 (2009-2012) of the Vision 20/30 Jamaica National Development Plan

Table 50:   Key Strategies and Actions under the National Outcomes for Years 1-3 (2009-2012)

Source: Vision 20/30 Jamaica National Development Plan. Chapter 4: pp.275

Issues and Challenges:

1. Low levels of  Citizen participation in Governance Structures

Narrowly defined mechanism for citizen participation in decision-making processes

2. Lack of internal capacity of some NGOs/CBOs to effectively facilitate community-level participation  as a democratic imperative toward the strengthening of civil society.

3.         Gender inequality and Inequity pp.116

• The number of cases of rape and carnal abuse have been increasing so too is buggery and indecent assault of the boy child
• An increasing number of children are being murdered (including by other children)
• Youth 15-24 yrs are involved as primary victims and perpetrator of violent crimes

In 2008, approximately 4 per cent of murders stemmed from domestic disputes

High percentage of males involved in criminal behaviour at ratio of 98:2; males are 65.6 per cent of victims of major crimes and females 35.4 per cent (2007)

If rape and carnal abuse are excluded among  major crime the gender differential increases to 71 per cent males and 29 per cent females pointing to a need for a gender equality framework in the analysis of crime.

 Gender Indicators

 Table 18 National Vision 20/30 strategy 6-6 Foster Equity in all spheres of  identify the Bureau of Women's Affairs among the responsible  agencies as  this relates the issue of effective governance.

• Female to male wage ratio at management level[1]s,
• Ratio of male and female police officers (JASPEV)
• issues of representation in the police force
• women in decision-making MDG 3 (representation of women in national  and local politics) as measure of gender equality.

Governance

  A core resource team has been established including members from the JCF, MNS, PIOJ and SDC.

Stakeholder   expansion 

 What is the role of the department of local Government? Local authorities (Parish Councils) ? What is the role of  the Department for International Development (DFID) ?[2]

Governance is the event and process of exercise of power involving civil society engagement with the democratic state.  The policy process governs the 'non-built environment processes' or institutional arrangements that create the administrative  procedural pathway of this  critical dialogue  to create citizen and community participation in national decision-making.  The governance goal vision 20/30 seek to strengthen democracy

  This process of citizen participation is to create this feedback loop between the state apparatus and 'community groups' as a basic  political group uni[3]t of the democratic state. The national strategy proposes a model  by which  democracy , participation and accountability at local levels is pursued as part of a movement towards greater decentralization and deepening  and broadening of the democratic process.

Vision 20/30 provides this node of ranvier  to facilitate this dynamic language between state and the population by providing an enabling environment  in which decision-making and service delivery are brought closer to the citizenry and encourage their involvement in national policy and decision-making processes  as well as 'community management of own affairs'.

JAMAICA SOCIAL POLICY EVALUATION (JASPEV)[4]

Key Goal 1 Governance

Sub-Goal 4: Wide, deep and continuous citizen participation in Governance and public sector decision- making

Key Issue 1: Parliamentary Democracy

• Civil society participation in parliamentary committees

 (see pp.1/70-71 includes case example Jamaican for Justice)

Key issue 2:   New Forms of Participatory, Inclusive Democracy

• Local Government 

(See Box 1.5 Criteria for Establishment of Parish Development Committees pp.1/72)

Table 1.17 Active Parish Development Committees (PDCs)

Key Goal 7    Human Security

Sub-Goal 1:    Community engagement in crime prevention, including strengthening of Community capacity for non-violent conflict resolution ( ch.7  pp.358)

                        Indicators:

1. Table 7.10 No of Neighbourhood Watches and % of active Neighbourhood Watches  (pp.7/361)
2. Crime Prevention Initiatives at the community level
3. No of community residents trained in basic mediation
4. No of persons sensitized to mediation

Sub-Goal 2:    Promoting the transition to a more service-oriented police force (pp.368)

Key Issue 1:   Making the transition form a paramilitary force to a  service-oriented body (no indicators suggested ( see pp.7/368-9)

Key Issue 2:   Capacity for community-based policing and mediation

Indicators:

1. Table 7.13 No. of police officers trained per annum in community-

 based policing and in basic mediation (see pp.7/369)

                        Key issue 3:   Accountability Mechanisms

                        Indicators

1. Table 7.14       Fatal shootings by police (2001-2007)
2. Table 7.15       Incidence of complaints against police[5]  and selected

complaints categories

1. Table  7.16      No of police officers murdered (2001-2007)
2. Table 7.17       No of police commendations awarded by the public

                        Key Issue 4:   Exemplary Service

Sub-Goal 4:    Strengthening the Impartiality of the Justice System, combating

                        discriminatory norms, values, attitude and behaviour

            Key Issue 4: Gender Balance among Senior Personnel in the police force

                        Indicator:

1. Table 7.29      No. of men and women in the Judiciary and Senior Ranks of the Jamaica Constabulary Force

Sub-Goal 5:    Protection from abuse for citizens and vulnerable groups

Measurement Challenge

Gender Analysis (see gender mainstreaming ECOSOC Res. 1997/2)

What is the role of technology?

Application of GIS technology to provide spatial analysis across functional and   geographical  boundaries? (police divisions, SDC community boundaries, health[6] regions . Measurement:  verbal-spatial ability - let's map this problem by ' functional' and so too political-administrative regions to gain objective national picture to maximize technology

Definition of community:  structural and 'functional boundaries' (civil society groups, business community interests)

Proposed  Governance Indicators (JASPEV, Jamaica 2015)

Table 1.13 Internet users and  no. of personal computers , Jamaica  2001-2005 (pp.1/66)

Table 1.14 Community Internet Access Points at December 2006 (pp.1/66)

Critical Areas of Concern:

The possibilities for joined up approaches

The state has an obligation of  Protection, Prevention, Prosecution (punishment, rehabilitation, reintegration), the focus of  the draft crime prevention  and community strategy is  community engagement in prevention as a democratic imperative.

The draft Crime prevention and community strategy must  have a point of cross-over with existing  vision 20/30 Jamaica: National Development Plan strategy as well as to exhibit continuity with the apriori social policy framework- the Jamaica 2015:  National Progress Report 2004-2006 on Jamaica's  Social Policy Goals[7].

Vision 20/30- national strategies 5.1 Strengthen the capacity of communities to participate in creating a safe and secure society; and 6.1 Strengthen the process of citizen participation in governance  speaks to  the development of a national crime prevention and community safe strategy , the role of local governance structures for social interventions aimed at community safety and security and the  institutional strengthening of formal linkages with community level governance mechanism. Toward the development of a framework for  community  Development Planning and integrate with national planning process such as  the design and implement of policies , gender-differential impact assessment,  policy monitoring and evaluation . This mechanism is also critical for the harmonization of data collection  as to the overall  aggregate impact of  the community-level efforts at a national  level  as well as to  assess  the effectiveness of the  community based policing efforts to reduce the level of crime and to restore a sense of human security to communities by transforming our society into one which 'conforms to the rule of law, respect for  the rights of all, and coalesces around a set of shared values"  (Vision 20/30 pp.99)

A joined up approach can be achieve at a functional level through technological application of  Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Technology to analyze crime statistics  by point, line or area of occurrence such as urban or rural locations.  The use of  spatial mapping techniques to create base maps of crime and violence   according to (geographical or  functional regions of different stakeholders) by health regions, SDC region, police  divisions, electoral subdivisions depending on type of major crime and associated risk factors such as   murder, violent crimes , gang violence, sexual offences, robbery, burglary and larceny.   For instance gang related crimes may be correlated with the spatial boundaries of electoral regions whereas sexual offenses may be better charted by  a service delivery mapping of health regions etc. In the same vein the use of environmental audits such as the METRAC Safety Audit of the business community or general safety in public places  too provides an objective and participatory framework  to assess factors of the built environment and non-built environmental processes that contribute to the feeling of human security such as lighting, parks, gender mainstreaming policies, sex-disaggregated data collection x age x rural or urban location,  community group, signage  etc.

  Current best practices (evidence please)

• Community-Based Policy Monitoring (CBPM)
  • see Fig 1.3 Stages in the Community-Based Policy Monitoring Process (Jamaica 2015  chapter 1 pp.73)
  • see also Community score-cards (JASPEV)) is an important feedback loop mechanism between community and stakeholders see  Fig. 1.4  JASPEV Community Score Card on Entrepreneurial Service Standards)
  • Table 7.12 No. of communities using community-based policy score cards on  police-youth relations and holding meetings with their local police to discuss scores
  • Fig. 7.5 Community Score Card Results in  nine Kingston and St. Andrew inner city communities in 2004 (Jamaica 2015 pp. 366)
• Crime Prevention Initiatives at the community level  under the Ministry of National Security  include Citizen Security and Justice Programme,(CSJP), Community Security Imitative (CSI) , Peace Management Initiative (PMI), Safe Schools Programme[8] et al see JASPEV 7/355-361
• The Crime Stop Program  as a measure of citizen's willingness to assist the police (JASPEV 7?358)
• Direct Community Initiatives
• Develop a community-based research and information system as suggested by vision 20/30
• Role of the District Constable (history, run in social fabric of society, rural development by removal of this service and its benefit to community cohesion and social integration list) this is being reintroduced in School's Safety module (cursory mention)

The main social problems on which this strategy should focus

Vision 20/30  is  multi-dimensional and inter-disciplinary and identify as priorities the following areas: (please see national outcome 5

1. Step one is to harmonize draft crime prevention and community strategy with vision 20/30 and build on indicators suggested by Jamaica 2015: National Progress Report 2004-2006,  the economic and social survey of Jamaica (PIOJ) chapters on nation security and the chapter on health (violence related injuries) to arrive at  a defacto statement of the national landscape of crime and violence.
2. There needs to be a sharpened focus on violent crime and the strengthening of community capacity for violence prevention. Violent crimes unlike other forms denote a problem of aggression at an interpersonal scale which is reactive to gender role expectation and identity formation  and social construction of masculinity with aggression,  issues of perception of income inequality  increases frustration alongside factors such as youth employment  through gendered lenses to unearth the critical period of  home-to work transition and the international priority given to youth unemployment as a factor of  development planning under goal 8. The unemployment of young women calls upon a transformed gender ideology  that increases prospects of vulnerability to labour exploitation and human trafficking
3.  The dependent variable is the same, the criminal landscape. DFID is  a cross-over stakeholder and the involvement of the department of  Local Government  is  quintessential to the formalization of community linkages  for a vibrant civil society and democratic governance and increased citizen participation.  This will reconcile the silo governance challenge and maximize scarce resources.
4. Sensitivity to psycho social and demographic dimensions such as gender and age require an analysis of crime using life cycle method as a template of human development to examine cohort-specific considerations such as youth involvement in  crime  and issues of home-work transition, the demographic characteristic as 20 per cent of the population, potential for erosion of social capital,  definition of the male role and female unemployment as  factors of human development and integral to  the design and implementation of  policy and program. Here I suggest that the working age population groups and the distribution of women across reproductive age groups are suitable population parameter for gender inquiry.
5. The community policing strategy can benefit from evidential targeting categories of crime (role of criminal gangs,  the drugs for guns trade, dons  by its  human security consequence for families, business, community, politics . What are community level indicators such as road blocks, extortion fees, rape, level of fear, decline in school attendance. These are factors of social capital that are affected by crime that should be subject to monitoring; similarly the presence of community groups is index of  social cohesion and is useful.   The Jamaica Human Development Report (2000) cites a study by  Horace Levy on  'area stigma' that is extremely useful in arriving at a definition of community.
6. Technology: Spatial Analysis of  crime statistics  across functional  zones as police zones,  electoral boundaries, SDC boundaries for community groups, parish development committees or health regions) will depend on form of crime under examination. The important aspect is a national picture. Local government boundaries is most rigorous in this regard and SDC boundaries most useful to plotting the distribution of community activism and impacts; The use of Community Internet Access Point to mobilize communication  across community groups is invaluable in terms of resource sharing and  strengthening partnership
7. Long terms solutions require gradual intervention within a logical framework analysis in targeted communities with varying degrees of vulnerability(please see IOM Handbook on Performance indicators for counter-trafficking  projects)[9]

• Stigma  is a socio-cultural factor of values systems  that affect gender roles at inter-individual  -social factors (age, gender, critical period  planning), related to sex-discrimination, prejudice  of which a human rights education program  would supplement the awareness campaign proposed in vision 20/30 national strategy 5.1
• Area stigma phenomena
• Vulnerable groups construct Vision 20/30 identify Long terms solutions require gradual interventions in targeted communities that are most vulnerable . What are criteria for most vulnerable? Interventions among population segments such as young males; please do not forget suicide statistics as indicator of alienation or anomie in keeping with Emile Durkheim's  deviance theory.  The role of theory is also useful to data capture

• The role  sports (human right to play at the 20^th anniversary of the rights of the Child), best interest of the child principle and avenues to develop competitiveness.

The possibilities for early actions.

• Logical framework analysis: peace process is a stage and in the same way that crime is a man-made disaster the operational  planning processes of community restoration and reintegration that is characteristic of the relief effort in this regard also generalizes to the spreadsheet of crime prevention  and community rehabilitation- plus or minus modifications of course but a democratic advance none-the-less.
• Maximize technological access using community access points for internet to guard against the challenge of technological  connectivity at a national level ( insert indicator) this will facilitate community-policing initiatives  strengthen participation, development of capabilities  in peace processes and awareness raising and collaborative approaches  and strengthening the community processes to compensate for the historical disadvantage of legacy of enchantment of the institutional mechanism/infrastructure of governance that is the byproduct of plantation economies of exploitations vs 'colony of settlements.  Thus the focus on community is a means of restoring a sense of community that is dramatically lacking in our democracy. (see Jamaica Human Development Report,2000).
• Use of technology to create functional boundaries to capture crime by location or where it occurs.  Boundaries include
  • Police zone
  • Ministry of health areas (Jamaica Injury Surveillance system)
  • Electoral regions (gang related activities)
  • SDC (community group activities)
  • Parish development committee boundaries

• The first step is to harmonize plans with vision 20/30 and strengthen capacity of communities to participate in creating a safe and secure society
• Identify how many communities are there? Informal, functional- start with community groups establish linkages with SDC boundaries.
• Develop police community relations indicators
• What is the data structure of major crimes? Read chapter 5 vision 20/30 and also PIOJ for a national consensus
• YOUTH  COHORT : 

The high youth unemployment rate is indicator The Millennium Development goals #8 International Cooperation? It is one of the issues and challenges of   goal 3 vision 20/30  to create a prosperous economy and is identified under national outcome 8: An Enabling Business Environment. This is consistent with the vision for Jamaica as  ' the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business"

• Gender-based Analysis- sex disaggregated data collection and  adopt a gender mainstreaming approach as endorsed by ECOSOC Res. 1997/2 this also include the disaggregation of offences in which females are over represented as victims such as domestic violence  situated in the context to the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (DEVAW) and  General recommendation no. 19 of the Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination  Against women (CEDAW) which define a typology of  gender-based  violence by level of occurrence at the level of the household,  level of the community and the level of the state.   Likewise the construct of Intimate Partner Violence  (IPV's) is an emergent construct  looking at the exigencies of violent crimes  as interpersonal level rooted in gender relations at the inter-individual level which also benefit from community level interventions.

END

I look forward to a  sustained, dynamic and measurable  productive discussion.

Regards

 Ms. Donna Fraser, Research Officer, BWA

NOTE:

Please send your comments to: crimeprevention@jamaicapartnersforpeace.org

Mr. Courtney Brown,

Director, Crime Prevention and Community Safety

Ministry of National Security         

[1] - global ratio is 1:0.72-0.77.  The  equal work equal pay policy is to ensure a 1:1 ratio. The current value of this indicator is unknown and impedes targeting

[2] DFID was formulation of Jamaica 2015 National Progress Report 2004-2006 on Jamaica's Social Policy Goals This includes the monitoring of social policy goals in area of governance and human security is catalyst to continuity across government so as to avoid 'reinventing the wheel'.

[3]  In much the  same  way that the family is the 'basic group unit of society'.  So in effect we are building   or  at the very least strengthening an ideal model of a community infrastructure as pre-existing and creating a point of access to correct for a 'barrier of access'  at the level of community engagement.  In effect, we are strengthening civil society and in so doing   building an effective democratic state.  In the absence of this, we will continue to behave like a colony  where the individual is atomized and alienated minus a vision of collective rights and responsibilities to create structural change through political action

[4] Project of the Office of the Cabinet 2002-2007; Jamaica 2015 National Progress  report 2004-2006 (supported by DFID which also supports community policing

[5] Reported to civilian complaints authority, the Police Public Complaints Authority ( PPCA)

[6] (MOH as stakeholders relating to  safety and security indicators of violent crimes collected by the Jamaica Injury Surveillance System on intentional injuries at the Accident and Emergency Units of Public Hospitals.  Charting the reports of  violence related injuries by location (point, line or area)  such as health regions  affords  a spatial variation  to  identify  or measure the  conflict zones characteristic of  household level  occurrence of violent crime separate from community level violent outcomes - these are often unreported to the police and are outside of official police records . This is an important partnership  as crime and violent impact on the health budget; It is an opportunity to maximize  available  sources of information on the  spatial  dimensions of crime  and violence  of which the health sector can assist police in targeting community  level  interventions .crime solving  activities.)

[7] Participatory, Joined-up Government in Partnership with civil society (see fig 2: Tracking National  Social Policy Goals using a Participatory Governance Process (Jamaica 2015 pp.39)

[8] See Table 7.8 Recorded violent incidents in schools in  Safe Schools Programme  see pp. 7/356

[9] This document is available at the BWA documentation centre and a copy of the prevention  component pp.19-21