The international drug trade, the growing influence of drug cartels, insufficient social services, overemphasis on law enforcement solutions, and the inadequacy of the criminal justice system in Panama have combined to form a combustible mix of factors that have led to a dramatic escalation in crime and violence, created a toxic environment for youth, and compromised the future of a promising country.
Youth represent a pool of fresh recruits for drug-related activity. They are also prime targets for gangs, which have experienced an increase in membership with the rise in criminal activity. Gang membership is estimated at 3,500 in a country with a population of roughly 3.3 million.
Panama is at a critical crossroads where focused and effective prevention programming can have enormous payoffs for the future.
The objective of the USAID-funded Alcance Positivo program (originally known as Community Youth at Risk) is to reduce the risk factors that lead to crime and violence among young people. The program employs a two-pronged approach:
- Initiating youth development and prevention activities that address root causes of youth crime and gang involvement
- Improving overall coordination and local capacity to better formulate and implement programs for youth at risk.
ICMA is a member of the implementation team, which is headed by Creative Associates International. The three-year program began in August 2010.
As part of its engagement in Alcance Positivo, ICMA draws on the community policing model that has been successful in the United States and elsewhere. The underlying principle of this approach is that crime prevention and community security require joint efforts by the police, other government offices and departments, and the community at large. They cannot be achieved by law enforcement alone.
ICMA is helping targeted municipalities, districts, and the Child and Adolescent Unit of the Panamanian National Police address the conditions that put youth at risk of criminal activity. Specifically, ICMA seeks to improve coordination among the police and other governmental, nongovernmental, and private-sector stakeholders, including youth, in efforts to promote greater public safety.
ICMA is building on its Municipal Partnerships for Violence Prevention in Central America (AMUPREV) program, which began in October 2009. AMUPREV has facilitated partnerships for crime prevention between two Panamanian cities and jurisdictions in the United States that have exemplary youth-at-risk and community policing programs. The partnerships include visits by local government officials and staff, police officers, and community leaders from the respective jurisdictions. The visits are designed to allow participants to exchange ideas and methodologies for crime prevention through technical assistance and training.
ICMA’s role also includes:
- Supporting the creation and/or strengthening of Municipal Committees for the Prevention of Violence, or CMPVs (the Spanish acronym) in all of the Alcance Positivo municipalities, including assistance in the development of CMPV crime/violence prevention plans.
- Supporting the creation of Community Roundtables for the Prevention of Violence, or MCPVs (the Spanish acronym) in designated municipalities and helping to ensure fluid communication between the MCPVs and the CMPVs so that their crime/violence prevention plans are coordinated.
- Facilitating training and planning for the Child and Adolescent Unit of the national police, after first identifying organizational roadblocks and internal limitations to more effective and coordinated programming. Training will emphasize the principles of community-oriented policing.
- Providing access to a library of best practices and a toolkit in municipal crime and violence prevention, utilizing a web-based interactive platform developed by ICMA with the Institute for Local Development of Central America (the Instituto Para el Desarrollo Local de Centroamerica, IDELCA) as a component of the AMUPREV program.
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