Police call on Redemption Sharpes community to forge partnership

Since efforts to assemble persons involved in criminal activity in Redemption Sharpes failed to bear fruit, Commissioner of Police Keith Miller is setting up a committee to explore ways of bringing such persons together and to deal with the social ills that plague the community.{{more}}

Commissioner Miller, who expressed his disappointment at the poor turn out on Monday, August 24th, at the old Anglican Church building at Redemption Sharpes, said he sees the whole idea of helping to reduce crime and violence in and around St Vincent and the Grenadines as a project and not a one-time venture.

The meeting sought recommendations to alleviate acts of crime and violence and also heard from the broader community on issues that are affecting them in relation to crime or social activities.

Although the targeted persons did not turn up at the meeting, Miller stated that he was elated with the number of residents who shared ideas on how to assist the police in their efforts. “We can’t look at this as just a police thing. We have to partner with the community to get it done…this is very important to us,” Miller confessed.

Some persons present told the Commissioner that they have connections with some of the men and they will assist the police in whatever capacity. “We are going to forge a partnership with these persons to assist in getting the guys,” the top cop noted.

As part of the plan, police officers from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) programme will be placed in the community to help deal with matters, including conflict resolution, peer pressure, among others. Miller added that he is glad to have the assistance of the Division of Family Services, the Marion House and other stakeholders. Also in attendance at that meeting were Director of the Family Services Division, Cammie Matthews, Minister of Culture René Baptiste, and Genita Lewis, Director of National Commission on Crime Prevention.

A similar meeting was held last week in Edinboro in an effort to end the feud that has been brewing between some residents of Edinboro and Ottley Hall for quite sometime.(KW)