CSJP Tackling Crime Through Youth Unemployment

NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Tackling crime usually centers around policing the streets and trying cases in court. But for the last five years, a local program is taking a deeper look at tackling crime through programs that target key contributors to crime.

Jasmin Brown reports.

For years, the Citizen Security and Justice Programme has taken what can be called a comprehensive approach to reducing crime and violence in The Bahamas.

CSJP Communications Specialist Shaquille Coleby says it combines preventative strategies with programs aimed at addressing some of the root causes of crime and criminal behaviour.

And to achieve this, CSJP focuses on four distinct areas that includes improving social behaviour, increasing employment opportunities, enhancing the administration of justice and reducing recidivism at corrections institutions.

The Citizens Security and Justice Programme was launched under the former Christie administration in may 2016.

The programme, funded by a $20million loan from the Inter-american Bank (IDB), represents the “single largest investment in a coordinated and comprehensive policy to address crime” in The Bahamas.

At its launch, officials said the programme will address every single issue driving crime in The Bahamas.

Tackling youth unemployment is a key pillar. Coleby says those IDB studies revealed a lot more.

Reporting for Our News, I’m Jasmin Brown.