Dr. Phillips Recommends Corps of Community Safety Officers

Opposition Spokesperson on National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips, has recommended the establishment of a corps of Community Safety Officers, who would work in tandem with the police.
“These would be civilians appropriately vetted and of the required integrity, but who would be able to augment the resources of the police and assist in tasks such as patrolling communities along with the police and monitoring overall, the breaches of law and order taking place in communities,” Dr. Phillips said.
He made the suggestion during his contribution to the 2008/09 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives yesterday (June 10).
Dr. Phillips also recommended an extension in the social intervention programmes of the Government, and greater levels of co-operation, be established within government agencies and between government and civil society.
“In this regard, there is an urgent challenge which must be confronted by the community of faith, which has presence and influence in almost every community across the country,” Dr. Phillips stated.
“Now is the time for this influence to be mobilized and focused on crime prevention efforts in co-ordination with the influential programmes and agencies of the state such as the Citizen Security and Justice Programme and the Social Development Commission (SDC),” he added.
He noted that “best practices drawn from the experiences of both state institutions and civil society should be shared as these efforts are combined.”