Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 21, 2017 (SKNIS): Thursday, March 02, 2017, is the date set by the Ministry of National Security to host a follow up meeting of stakeholders to finalize proposals from the National Crime Reduction Symposium.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security, Osmond Petty, said the meeting will be convened in Nevis with about 50 persons, which include members of the Criminal Justice Strategic Board. Fifteen were chosen from the original symposium on February 09, and 35 other individuals will provide a fresh perspective. The strategies will be arranged as action plans under the Enforcement, Diagnosis, Education and Rehabilitation (EDER) approach designed by Dr. Neals Chitan, a Crime Reduction Specialist and International Social Skills Consultant, who is working with the Ministry of National Security to enhance public safety.
Mr. Petty gave an example of how the upcoming session will work. “The output will show for example [to] the Youth Empowerment Department these were some of the psycho-social roots addressed, these are some of the activities and this is the kind of timeframe which we are looking at implementing,” he said. While the first two were already done, implementation timelines will be outlined at the meeting in Nevis.
In the meantime, the staff at the Ministry of National Security is busy reviewing the proposals from the symposium in preparation for the upcoming follow up workshop.
“I’m quite pleased with the symposium; I am pleased with the way Dr. Chitan’s work is going,” Permanent Secretary Petty said, highlighting the ongoing interactions the crime reduction specialist is having with community members, incarcerated youth, youth in conflict with the law, members of the security forces and civil society groups. “We are working very hard in schools and we are hoping to have a big finale in the next seven or so weeks but generally speaking the presentations have been well received [by] parents, students, teachers and things are going fairly well at this time.”
After that finale, local agencies are expected to continue executing various projects involving the strategies outlined from the forums. Government has pledged to lend support where possible to assist with implementation.
