Regional governments’ efforts to combat crime backfire – Trinidad Tribune

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Officers at the scene of a police-involved murder where four suspected kidnappers were killed in a shootout with police on Upper St Michael Road, St Augustine on May 23. – File photo by Roger Jacob

CRIMINAL gangs are not only sustained by social isolation and corrupt officials, but also by the counterproductive effects of certain state measures aimed at curbing crime.

These are the findings of a recent report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) entitled Caribbean Gangs: Drugs, Firearms and Gangs Networks in Jamaica, St Lucia, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.

The report says that ‘Cure Violence’ initiatives have shown some success when deployed using a ‘public health approach’ to curb gang violence.

Although this approach was advocated at the Caricom conference on crime in Trinidad last year, the UN report regrets that it is hardly implemented, to the detriment of countries in the region.

“Despite advocating a public health response, several Caribbean governments have simultaneously tightened their ‘tough on crime’ policies by declaring states of emergency, enacting anti-gang legislation and establishing anti-gang units or authorizing heavy-handed policing strategies.”

The strict measures taken by the police led to mixed reactions in the region.

“While tough policing of crime has led to an increase in arrests and drug seizures, there has also been a decline in trust within communities heavily policed.

“There are also concerns about extrajudicial violence.”

The report states that St. Lucia is now under US Leahy Law sanctions due to allegations of extrajudicial killings by police. Extrajudicial violence has also been documented in Jamaica and Guyana.

There were no reports of extrajudicial killings in TT.

The Leahy Acts prohibit the U.S. State Department and Defense Department from providing military assistance to foreign security forces that commit human rights violations with impunity.

The report shows that the four countries’ approach to gangs has had an invisible but damaging effect.

“The Caribbean, US and EU-backed measures to tackle gang leaders are also leading to unintended results.

“Some gang leaders lower their profiles and go underground, while others are killed or imprisoned and replaced by increasingly violent opponents. As seen elsewhere in the world, gang splits often lead to violence.

“Several national governments in the Caricom region have expressed concerns that drug trafficking, gang fragmentation and insecurity could worsen in the coming years.”

Measures to arrest TT gang leaders have been dramatically expanded, the report said, but this too has had some negative consequences.

“On the other hand, the removal of gang leaders has also led to the splitting of many gangs and increased inter- and intra-factional violence as groups compete for territory and drug trafficking routes.

“Harsh measures to crack down on criminal groups such as drug cartels and gangs could lead to more violence, as in the case of TT.”

The report said the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) predicted “a new wave of violent crime” in 2021 due to the fragmentation of major gangs that would lead to an increase in murders, injuries, shootings and other violent crimes. Amid this, TT gangs have diversified into new businesses – fraud, money laundering, robberies, human trafficking and illegal gambling – and are gaining access to higher-caliber firearms from domestic sources, the US and Venezuela.

The report regretted that the TT government had halted certain peace initiatives.

“Various preventive measures have also been explored in the Caribbean, including ceasefires, ceasefires and informal negotiations.

“In some cases, ceasefires appear to contribute to short-term reductions in homicide. However, the evidence for their effectiveness is mixed.

“Preventive approaches that use trusted intermediaries to disrupt or interrupt violence before it escalates have been praised for their positive outcomes.

“Cure Violence, a group that addresses violence as a public health issue, has shown positive results in both Jamaica and TT.

“The so-called Project Resolve Enmity, Articulate Solutions, Organise Neighbourhoods (REASON) initiative was supported in TT between 2015 and 2017 and is credited with reducing homicides by 45 percent in 16 neighbourhoods. But the funding was cut in 2017.

“A follow-up program called Building Blocks also reduced shootings between 2020 and 2022, but was discontinued in 2022.”

In contrast to these official initiatives, ceasefires and truces in the gang world usually only brought about a temporary reduction in fighting. However, they were often violated and led to a rapid increase in retaliatory violence.

The report also deplores the impact of societal neglect, state neglect and government corruption, which encourage gangs and organised crime.

In terms of social neglect, UNODC found that some gang traditions in Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia and TT dated back to the mid-twentieth century.

“Many of the precursors to today’s gangs in the region were in fact ‘self-help groups’ and ‘neighbourhood improvement groups’ operating in poor and informal settlements where the state had only a limited presence.

“Whether they are transnationally connected or operate in a very local way, most gangs emerge in response to criminal opportunities and in circumstances of social and economic disadvantage.”

In addition, gangs are now targeting the social alienation of some young people.

“And while most gangs seek to generate profit for their leaders, they also play a role in creating a sense of belonging and identity among rank-and-file members.

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“Gangs are overwhelmingly made up of younger men, often uneducated and unemployed, and deeply distrustful of government agencies. Although often short and brutal, gang life offers money, respect, belonging, and access to intimate partners.”

The report also provides detailed examples of how corrupt officials have facilitated the activities of criminal gangs.

“While it is a sensitive topic, it is widely acknowledged that Caribbean gangs often collaborate with state actors and private companies.

“In the case of the larger gangs and gang federations, political and economic elites regularly use their services to influence elections in key districts and to protect personal and commercial property and assets.”

In making this claim, the report cited a 2009 report for the Small Arms Survey, No Other Life: Gangs, Guns, and Governance in TT by Dorn Townsend. “In return, gang leaders may receive privileged access to government contracts (e.g., construction) and protection from investigation, arrest, and prosecution.”

The report says a few well-connected gangs facilitate the movement of illicit goods – drugs, weapons, smuggled migrants and human trafficking – “with tacit or overt support from well-placed politicians, corrupt customs officials and complicit police officers.”

“According to the perception of key informants, it is often the smaller players who are charged and imprisoned, while the cases of players higher up in the hierarchy are often dismissed due to lack of evidence or compromised judges.

“The significant impunity granted to gang leaders has encouraged some to diversify into new industries, including migrant smuggling and human trafficking for sexual exploitation, to legitimate retail and high-turnover services, including car dealerships, supermarket chains, real estate and pharmacies.”

Little information is available on the role of the Caribbean business and political elite in facilitating gang activities and criminal markets.

“Representatives of various regional and national intelligence agencies are aware that a small number of business people, often those involved in import and export activities (e.g., automobiles and parts, agricultural products, and oil and gas), and others involved in businesses with a high turnover of cash (e.g., pharmacies, supermarkets, and casinos), are more likely to be involved in human trafficking and money laundering.”

This activity may involve bribing port and customs officials.

The report alleged corruption in the large-scale, risk-free transshipment of cocaine from South America to North America and Western Europe.

“These drug shipments are the result of transnational drug trafficking networks and a small number of gangs, and are facilitated by corrupt customs and shipping agents, with the involvement of a number of political and economic elites.”

Also on the theme of public corruption fueling gangs, the report said weapons and ammunition “were diverted from police and private security arsenals.”

It was added: “Some (gangs) can also obtain ammunition from local police and defense, as reported in TT.

“The presence of Jamaican and Trinidadian gang members in Florida and New York facilitates access to firearms in states with less restrictive controls and freight forwarders to ship them in containers.”