Noble: Our govts fail to link improved social conditions with reduced violence

“There is no avoiding the fact that public confidence in the Police and police legitimacy is essential. We recognise that, in many cases, the lack of trust between the Police and the community constrains effective crime intervention.

“We are aiming at improving police accountability, re-establishing trust and credibility between the Police and the communities, and ultimately, serving to establish and maintain order as well as to guarantee stability, safety, and security for our citizens.”

Finance Minister Colm Imbert, Budget Statement, 2023. 

Minister Imbert’s concern about crime is a significant one. According to an IDB report, crime negatively impacts our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 3% or close to $9 billion.

This cost happens because firms reduce their investments and suffer productivity losses.

Increasing criminality erodes investor confidence and adds to the transactional costs of doing business. At a personal level, people change what they do to avoid being caught in a criminal attack.

Increasing crime levels and the fear of crime can cause capital flight and the loss of skills needed to build the economy. Households spend to protect themselves from crime, an expense that does not generate income.

Our governments have allocated significant resources in attempting to rein in the law-breaking. The resources that could be applied to improve our health and education sectors are now used to control crime.

Yet, the downward spiral continues. Why?

The presence of the two parties in the country and their partisan agendas create a hostile environment for policies and programmes geared to address the crime issue.

The parties use violence and the perceptions of insecurity to either bolster their claims to power or to weaken the other side’s appeal. Because there is no national consensus about an approach to violence, each time we vote another party in, there will be a change in plans and tactics.

This tug of war allows some persons and organisations to fund election campaigns with a sinister agenda of indulging in illicit activity.

Our politicians lack the will to execute sustainably the things that can bring about meaningful change. Instead, they choose to spend larger and larger sums on policing and high-profile activities.

These things are designed to win elections, not solve crime. Spending money on preventative efforts tends not to be flashy and does not contribute to winning an election.

In our country, “for every dollar spent on security, only 15 cents [was] spent on prevention.”

Our successive administrations have not made the connection between improved social conditions and reduced violence. Serving our communities better and delivering a sense of justice underpins the stability of our country. We ‘stop and start’ anti-crime programmes even when they work.

For example, in 2008, the Ministry of National Security in Trinidad and Tobago established the Citizen Security Programme (CSP), primarily financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The CSP’s mission was to help reduce crime and violence within 36 “high-needs” communities nationwide. This programme created a collaboration with the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), which carries out crime control efforts in these communities, and created Project REASON.

This project had five components: street outreach to at-risk youth, public education, faith-leader involvement, community mobilisation, and collaboration with law enforcement.

The partnership between these parties worked well, spreading the message of nonviolence. Upon Hal Greaves’ death, a Project REASON leader, the Express called him “the nation’s peacemaker”.

Between 2008 and 2014, Trinidad and Tobago had five ministers of national security and three permanent secretaries, with different buy-in levels and willingness to advocate for the CSP.

Yet, IDB and the UNDP’s reviews described the programme as successful. Community actors interviewed saw it “as having a direct and positive impact on community life”.

Persons in the communities believed they were generally safer. The residents felt lower levels of fear about being attacked during the day or night or when shopping.

The programme built the morale and self-esteem of residents despite the significant stigma attached to these communities. There was a positive financial return created.

What did we do? We failed to recognise the transformational value of the work and squelched it via administrative actions.

Instead of celebrating its wins and seeking to iron out its deficiencies, we lost the core cadre of persons leading this charge. We have returned to the glitzy raids and the Police attempting to build trust alone.

In the run-up to the 2020 general elections, we witnessed the desire of urban youths to do better. The then UNC candidate, Jearlean John, launched a “grow box” effort in the La Horquetta constituency.

It was reported that over two dozen young men were involved. They were getting up early and tending their crops.

What happened? After the elections, the project was abandoned. What signal have we sent to these youths?

With the power of incumbency, the present representative for La Horquetta, Minister Foster Cummings, has launched the Agriculture Homestead initiative, targeting 200 youths, giving access to land, housing, working capital, equipment, and technical resources annually. Will this last?

Will they grow Scorpion Pepper, which earns much-needed foreign exchange? Do we know that 1Kg sells for US$149.95?

We have had sporadic efforts at teaching parenting and social skills, but nothing is sustained.

The long-term answer lies in the public demonstration of moral leadership by those in politics, the church, the media and business. Citizens who see the consequence of inaction must provoke these leaders into action.

We cannot continue to moan about crime. We must act.

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