Released: June 9, 2011 - US Consulate and Bermuda Government collaborate on gangs
THE U.S. CONSULATE GENERAL
For Immediate Release June 9, 2011
U.S. Consulate & Bermuda Government Collaborate on Gangs
Continuing its annual practice, the U.S. Consulate sent a Voluntary Visitor (VolVis) Exchange team from Bermuda to the U.S. for one week in May. The visit focused on gangs, which the Bermuda government had identified as one of its most pressing concerns.
The Consulate sent ten members associated with the Bermuda Inter-Agency Gang Task Force to the United States on May 16-20 to visit 12 model anti-gang programs in New York City and Boston. During his Bermuda visit last September, U.S. Attorney General Holder endorsed the interagency anti-gang task force as the right approach to address the gang problem because it provides a coordinated response that combines law enforcement with the social and prevention side of the issue. The concept of the task force recognizes that law enforcement alone is not the answer.
Funded by the U.S. Department of State, the VolVis exchange gives Bermudians the chance to network with their professional counterparts in the U.S. We hope that they can draw upon those contacts in the years to come. However, the exchange experience is not only about Bermudians learning about U.S. programs, it is also a mutual exchange of ideas between Americans and Bermudians in the program field. The program provides a superlative networking opportunity for both sides.
This is the sixth year that the American Consulate has organized a Voluntary Visitor Exchange for Bermuda. The program has become an integral part of the Consulate’s ongoing effort to strengthen ties between our two countries. The first exchange in 2005 focused on youth development. The second and third exchanges looked at healthy families and healthy children, while the fourth and fifth exchanges concentrated on alternative education and early childhood education. Consul General Grace Shelton said, “The VolVis exchange is an excellent example of the collaboration between the United States and Bermuda. Working together we can accomplish much. The Consulate looks forward to continuing the Voluntary Visitor Program in 2011 and the years to come.”
This year’s VolVis team on gangs included Rory Field, DPP; Derek Flood, Senior Probation Officer; Warren Jones, Permanent Secretary of Education; Tracy Kelly, Assistant Collector of Customs; Lt. Col. Edward Lamb, Commissioner of Corrections; Alfred Maybury, Director of Child and Family Services; Danette Ming, Assistant Chief Immigration Officer; David Mirfield, Assistant Commissioner of Serious Crime; Vernon Wears, Policy Coordinator, Ministry of National Security; and Livingston Wedderburn, Policy Analyst, Ministry of Justice.
The team visited the following programs:
1. Federalism briefing with Professor Tom Halper of the City University of New York
2. The New York Gang Investigators Association
3. The Center for Crime Prevention and Control
4. The Crown Heights Community Mediation Center’s Save Our Streets Program
5. The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York
6. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
7. Operation Ceasefire: The Boston Strategy to Prevent Youth Violence
8. Adolescent Violence Prevention Forum
9. Youth Options Unlimited (Y.O.U.): The Mayor’s Office of Jobs and Community Services
10. YouthConnect Boston: The Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston
11. The Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center
12. StreetSafe Boston, the Boston Foundation
The attachment provides more detailed information about these programs.
ATTACHMENT: VOLVIS PROGRAMS VISITED MAY 2011
· Federalism briefing with Professor Tom Halper of the City University of New York.
· The New York Gang Investigators Association was established in 2006 by criminal justice professionals who recognized the importance of sharing information and working with social service agencies, community-based organizations and the education system to impact the spread of gangs. By bringing together those that are actively involved in the investigation, prosecution, suppression, intervention and prevention of criminal street gangs, prison gangs and extremist groups and their affiliations, the Association provides a venue for collaboration and communication across disciplines. The Association works in partnership with fellow gang investigators and law enforcement associations throughout the world to develop anti-gang strategies in the areas of gang prevention, gang intervention, gang enforcement, gang suppression, gang member rehabilitation and gang member re-entry into mainstream society.
· The Center for Crime Prevention and Control fosters innovative crime reduction strategies through hands-on fieldwork, action research, and operational partnerships with law enforcement, communities, social service providers, and other practitioners. The Center is actively engaged in crime prevention initiatives in jurisdictions around the country and the world. It is particularly focused on issues affecting our most vulnerable communities: gangs and other violent groups, gun violence and gun trafficking, overt drug markets, and domestic violence. It is also focused on repairing relationships between those communities and law enforcement; strengthening communities; and reducing arrest and incarceration.
· The Crown Heights Community Mediation Center: Save Our Streets (SOS) is a unique neighborhood institution that works to improve community problem-solving, collaboration, and inter-group relations in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Operating out of our storefront offices since1998, the Mediation Center seeks innovative ways to promote community cohesion in our neighborhood, known for fragmentation. This includes providing residents with links to resources on issues like education, parenting, housing, and immigration; providing support to young people navigating the challenges of a community tainted by violence, drugs, and poverty; and galvanizing neighborhood, borough, and city stakeholders in order to improve the quality of life for all residents.
· The United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York represents the United States and its agencies in civil and criminal litigation before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and in proceedings before the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The Southern District of New York encompasses New York, Bronx, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, and Westchester counties. With approximately 170 Assistant United States Attorneys, the Criminal Division is the larger of the two divisions in the Southern District of New York. The Office files well over 1000 criminal cases each year, and is one of the busiest prosecutor's offices in the federal system. Its mission is simple: Prosecute violations of federal law. Our prosecutors handle a wide variety of crimes, including: The prosecution of terrorism, organized and white collar crime, international drug cartels, the dismantling of violent street gangs, credit card fraud, identity theft, computer hacking, and public corruption.
· The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is a threat-based and intelligence-driven national security organization. The mission of the FBI is to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership and criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal, and international agencies and partners. The FBI focuses on threats that challenge the foundations of American society or involve dangers too large or complex for any local or state authority to handle alone. In executing the following priorities, it produces and uses intelligence to protect the nation from threats and to bring to justice those who violate the law.
· Operation Ceasefire: The Boston Strategy to Prevent Youth Violence. An overview of The Boston Strategy to Prevent Youth Violence – a collaborative, multi-agency organization founded as a preemptive approach to gang violence – and its Operation Ceasefire program. In the 1990s, Boston achieved dramatic success in reducing its level of gang-related gun violence—in particular, youth homicides. Operation Cease Fire is a preemptive approach to gang violence. The police department, with the cooperation of the clergy, has enlisted probation officers, community workers, educators, and school police to identify potential 'hot spots' of gang trouble. Once such an area is identified, the police respond swiftly -- but not punitively at first -- to head off gang violence, especially violence with guns. The police along with others in the criminal justice system, such as the district attorney and probation and parole officers, convene a meeting of gang members from the area of brewing conflict and lay down the law. http://www.sasnet.com/bostonstrategy/
· Adolescent Violence Prevention Forum, from Dr. Peter Stringham, Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Boston University, is a collection of facts and advice that Boston teenagers, their parents, and anti-violence specialists have taught him over the years. He has been involved with youth violence prevention and research within the Boston community for decades. He currently sits on the advisory board of the Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center. http://people.bu.edu/pstring/1.html
· Youth Options Unlimited (Y.O.U.): The Mayor’s Office of Jobs and Community Services is Boston's Youth Re-entry program providing a broad range of services to court-involved youth from 14 to 24 years of age. Located in Dudley Square, Y.O. Unlimited works with young people from every Boston neighborhood at our Center and within the community. In collaboration with our partner agencies, Y.O. Unlimited focuses on providing the following services: Intensive Case Management, Development of Individual Service Plans for each youth, Assistance, Referral, Placement to educational options and Transitional Jobs programs and leading to employment opportunities. Y.O.U.’s goals are to:
Ø Engage the city's most challenged youth and to propel them toward a healthier future and self-sustainability;
Ø Assist in reducing youth violence and incarceration recidivism rates by providing youth with academic and vocational skill-building activities and employment opportunities;
Ø Elevate public awareness about the importance of structured support and educational and workforce development services for youth and adults re-entering the community post incarceration.
http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/yoboston/en/what_is.asp.
· YouthConnect Boston: The Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston is an advocacy and intervention program of BGCB whose mission is to help the most at-risk young people make positive life choices through trusting relationships with skilled and compassionate social workers. Since its inception in 1996, YouthConnect has served more than 9,800 youth (80% between the ages of 13-21) and families from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. They:
Ø Intervene at critical moments when young people are either engaged or at risk of engaging in delinquent activity;
Ø Place masters-level, licensed, clinical social works at police stations through an innovative partnership with the Boston Police Department;
Ø Connect young people and their families with the most effective social services for their individual situations.
http://www.bgcb.org/locations_yspn.cfm
· The Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center (HYVPC) is an innovative, multi-disciplinary Center dedicated to “working collaboratively to build community capacity for youth violence prevention in Boston.” Located at the Harvard School of Public Health, Center activities are based on the premise that effective prevention evolves from synergy between researchers, community members, and policy makers. Its active collaborations with multiple community agencies and organizations provide ample opportunities to bridge research and practice. HYVPC has an outstanding multi-disciplinary staff with expertise in survey research, surveillance, program evaluation, and youth violence prevention. Violence prevention is only one of the many important, cross-cutting issues addressed by Center, which include injury prevention, community capacity building, and youth development.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hyvpc/index.html
· StreetSafe Boston, The Boston Foundation, is a multi-year youth development and safety initiative designed to dramatically reduce youth violence in a subset of Boston neighborhoods disproportionately and persistently affected by high rates of violent crime. It’s theory of change is that a small number of young people play a significant role in driving the vast majority of violence in the five StreetSafe Boston focus communities. Effective street level intervention is the key to connecting this chronically isolated proven-risk youth population to much needed programs and services. Enabling access for this proven-risk population to pro-social pathways that make participation in violent criminal behavior less attractive will lead to a reduction in youth violence in the focus neighborhoods and consequentially, a positive systemic impact on outcomes for all youth by eliminating fear of violence that has impeded access to existing programs. http://www.bostonfoundation.org/Content.aspx?ID=10948. Its two core strategies are:
Ø Street Level Gang Intervention – Develop and deploy a highly trained and supported cadre of StreetSafe Boston Streetworkers with street credibility who can establish relationships with proven-risk youth to intervene in cycles of violence, resolve conflicts, and connect youth to needed services in coordination with existing City and Faith Based Street Workers and Youth Outreach Workers.
Ø Neighborhood Based Service Delivery - A multiple-agency neighborhood-based strategy to provide vital alternative programming and social services for proven-risk youth in the following categories: workforce, education, legal services, housing services, family services, re-entry, mental health services and recreation. (Learn more about StreetSafe Boston Lead Partners and Community Partners.)