By Omar Anderson, Gleaner WriterIN A bid to curb truancy and violence in schools, the police will next week implement a new community relations programme that will see members of the force being placed in certain schools to use persuasion, rather than force, to help shore up attendance rate.
The scheme, which is to kick off on Monday in schools in the 19 police divisions across the country, is aimed at preventing crime and reducing rowdy behaviour among students.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Tilford G. Johnson, in charge of operations, told The Gleaner yesterday that the new police truancy programme was conceived by Commissioner Francis Forbes, following several violent incidents in schools which have resulted in the destruction of school property, stabbings, and even deaths.
"We have been seeking out ways how we could treat with differences in schools, so the Commissioner mandated us to seek, improve, and guide young minds in a direction that will see them deviate from the kind of tendency in which they are headed," Johnson said.
According to the DCP, the truancy programme was identified "as an excellent idea" to work with youths in schools.
He said as a result, before the summer holidays began, commanding officers at the 19 police divisions were asked to identify at least three 'trouble' schools in their divisions.
The schools' principals were then contacted, told about the programme, and invited to work with the police to successfully implement it when the new school year begins on Monday.
DCP Johnson added that a number of co-ordinators from each police division were trained, and they in turn trained what DCP Johnson called School Resource Officers (SRO), who like the co-ordinators, are policemen and women.
"They will be assigned almost full-time to be part of the school staff," DCP Johnson stated, "so they will be integrated in the whole activities that take place in schools."
Meanwhile, the deputy commissioner pointed out that in the event a student is absent from school for a prolonged period, an SRO will contact that student's parents to find out the circumstances behind his/her non-attendance.
"It's more persuasion than force," DCP Johnson assured.
Earlier this year, members of the security forces were deployed to schools in the violence-plagued communities of South St. Andrew where frequent clashes between gang members disrupted classes and left teachers, students and their parents fearing for their lives.
The Public Order sub-committee of Cabinet recently suggested that members of the security forces be deployed in schools to address some of the problems in the system.
