JCF Moves to Prevent Gang Recruitment in Schools

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), through its School Resource Officers (SROs), has put measures in place to prevent gangs from using schools as feeder institutions.

Speaking on the JCF’s ‘Force for Good’ Podcast on August 30, Sub-officer in Charge of the St. Catherine North Community Safety and Security Branch, Sergeant Kester Fennel, underscored the importance of preventing gangs from recruiting new members, particularly within schools.

“We recognise that within [some schools], there are pockets of gangs [being formed]. Sometimes [when] you look at the groupings, [it’s] boys and girls who come together to form different groups… and they give their groups names. So, we target those groups and we pay keen attention to them. Through the school resource officers, we have interjected ourselves in these schools and we have been able to identify some students who may have some behaviours that might suggest that they might be affiliated with certain utterances. So we pay close attention to those,” he said.

Sergeant Fennel indicated that SROs work closely with deans of discipline, guidance counsellors and school administrators to address the issue.

“Additionally, from time to time, we have had to call in [the] parents of these students to inform them about what we are recognising and the path that their children are on. That is how a lot of those students are selected for… the Peace in School Ambassadors Programme and the Strategic Workshop on Anti-Gang Programme,” he further stated.

“Once we recognise the issues, we’re not just working with the schools, we’re also working with the parents to see how we can get those children to deviate from the path that they’re on to a more positive one,” he added.

Sergeant Fennel stressed that meaningful change must begin with young people, noting that they are the nation’s future leaders.

“So we are using the opportunities that we have, to work with the schools and to work with the students to identify those challenges, and see how best we can intervene proactively to ensure that we prevent them from going down [the wrong] road,” he stated.