NATIONAL STRATEGIC ANTI-GANG DIVISION URGES VIGILANCE AS STUDENTS RETURN TO SCHOOL
With the new school term approaching, the Jamaica Constabulary Force’s National Strategic Anti-Gang Division (NSAD) is reinforcing its call for parents and communities to help protect young people from gang recruitment and the pressures that can lead them into criminal networks.
Speaking on the most recent episode of the radio programme JCF Now, DSP Kevin Johnson, Head of the NSAD, spoke about the Division’s focus on disrupting and dismantling criminal organisations by being intelligence-driven and strategic, rather than simply responding to individual incidents.
“We examine how the gangs operate; we examine the structure, the identified leaders, the recruiters, the members, the financiers and the facilitators that make up and support the gangs,” he noted.
One of NSAD’s aim is to target all the persons who make up the structure of a gang. This is achieved through diligent interrogation of intelligence analysis, forensic analysis, crime data analysis and witness accounts.
Through collaboration, the Division targets and breaks down the structure that enables gangs to operate.
DSP Johnson says gang members are actively recruiting to sustain their organisations, with designated persons assigned to recruitment.
“Some of the likely candidates are vulnerable youths, and some of our students as well. They prey on the vulnerability of young students, and oftentimes, they have persons who are attending schools who will try to do recruiting on their behalf as well,” he expressed.
He stated that the ‘foot soldiers’ or the ‘trigger men’, as he describes them, are the individuals who carry out the instructions of the gang.
“What you would call in business the ‘line staff’, who actually go out and do the work, and often times these are vulnerable students.” he explained.
DSP Johnson pointed out that even though some gang members may be young, they can still fulfil leadership roles within the gangs. He clarified what it means to acquire leadership status within a gang.
“Leadership is basically the person directing the gang, giving instructions on how resources are to be deployed, what resources are to be utilised, what crimes are to be committed, and who are to go out and actually perpetrate these crimes,” he said.
His advice to parents is to remain vigilant, as recruitment can take place in schools and other learning institutions. While efforts continue to make these spaces safer, criminal activities can still find their way into these environments.
“Our message to the parents and guardians is simple: stay engaged in your child’s lives, know who they are associating with, and that is one of the signs as well. Who they are associating with, especially after school. Maintain communication with them. Speak to them, know their friends, know where they are hanging out.”
He continued: “Seek support if you realise or see troubling signs. Troubling signs can be truancy: children not going to school, hanging out on corners, you notice that they are probably utilising or abusing substances. They are attending parties at a young age, coming in late at night. So, we need to just be engaged with our children and be a part of their lives and ensure that we seek early support whenever we see any troubling signs.”
For the NSAD, intervention is just as important as enforcement. The Division partners with school administrators and the Community Safety and Security Branch, conducts school visits and hosts public awareness seminars to educate students about the dangers of criminal organisations.
DSP Johnson highlighted that recruitment can start as early as age 15.
“You have different signs that you can look for as well. Is the child just being deviant? Is the child just being rebellious, or is the child wanting to go places to engage with persons of dubious character? So, we have to look at the signs as parents and assess, and you have to know your child. It’s not just a parent or an entity thing; it’s a whole collaborative approach.” He expressed.
He urged parents to engage community organisations and the schools. “You have to engage positive figures within the community, church-based or faith-based organisations, and seek the support of everyone who can assist you in understanding what is going on.”
The NSAD is actively working to dismantle gangs and has been conducting intelligence-led operations to disrupt the core of gang activities.
“It is important that we target all the proceeds of crime because gangs are businesses built on proceeds of crime, and if you arrest individuals and you leave the finances, what will happen is that the business will continue to operate.”
“So, by partnering with the Financial Investigations Division and other stakeholders, we are really attacking the fundamental, the financial foundation of these gangs. So, by seizing illicit cash or assets, what we do is we disrupt the ability of the gangs to purchase firearms and ammunition.” He added.
“We will work with our partners to ensure that these organisations face sustained pressure at every operational level. We will continue to build the capacity of our members, so that we stay ahead of the criminal organisation, and so that we can be better able and better equipped to treat with the criminal organisations in this country,” he said.
