PSOJ president calls for a coalition model to fight crime

President of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) Howard Mitchell has reiterated his call for a coalition model of leadership to develop and implement a sustainable crime-fighting plan.

According to the PSOJ boss, any sustainable solution to crime and violence must have its genesis in what he describes as a 'Firmament Committee' that transcends political administrations.

He says that only such a coalition could spearhead a sustainable response to violence. He pointed to the model of the Electoral Commission as an example of such a coalition and highlighted the Vision 2030 plan as a reasonable blueprint for crime solutions.

Mitchell was one of four panellists at a town hall meeting convened by the Jamaica Baptist Union on Thursday, February 22, to discuss solutions to crime and violence plaguing several sections of the country.

NOT OF ONE ACCORD

The panel included acting Commissioner of Police Clifford Blake; Custos of St James, Bishop Conrad Pitkin; and Violence Prevention Alliance founding member Bradley Edwards, all of whom agreed that no single entity could respond effectively to crime and violence.

However, they were not of one accord with what the coalition model and the crime-fighting plan should look like or how it could be implemented.

Blake was convinced that any workable crime-fighting plan must include preventive measures to divert unattached youth to productive avenues and to attempt to "correct rather than arrest," them. Pitkin was of a similar view but stressed the need to adopt a participatory approach in which the youth themselves helped to design their own solutions.

He also shared the opinion that training interventions were a necessary preventive measure - especially in St James - to ensure that the scores of unattached youth are equipped with relevant skills to make them employable.

Bradley Edwards, a founding member of the Violence Prevention Alliance, argued that it was better to tackle the risk and vulnerability factors as part of a broader preventative strategy rather than trying to "correct and cure".