Taylor says he will deliver
(CNS): The Cayman Islands’ new governor has made a commitment to deliver a national prevention strategy to tackle the country’s very high crime levels during his tenure. Speaking at a specially convened press briefingto update the public on the work of the National Security Council (NSC), Duncan Taylor promised that he would make it a priority to see that a real plan is put in place to deal with the problem holistically. He said that while the police commissioner was dealing with the current short term situation, the national strategy would be about a medium to long term plan to reduce crime. From legislative changes to addressing literacy, he said there was a need to develop policy that would deliver on the goal of reducing crime.
Taylor said every country and jurisdiction that had managed to tackle crime problems had implemented multi-agency approaches. “There are no easy solutions, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t good solutions,” he said, adding that while he couldn’t wave a magic wand it was possible to deliver more complex programmes by using the information available.
He said Cayman could look at what other countries had done to tackle this kind of crime problem with gangs and that by utilising the research and recommendations from existing reports, such as that written by Yolanda Forde in 2006, the NSC could begin to form a policy. The governor said he believed there was a lot of information and research to draw upon, as well as a lot of good ideas coming from the community that the Security Council would examine.
“The challenge is to turn the information and ideas into action and make a difference,” he said, adding that the NSC had now met three times and the gang and gun crime was its main focus. Despite the fact it was also concerned with other security matters, domestic crime levels were now its priority.
He said once the NSC had developed a draft of a national crime strategy, which he hoped would be in a couple of months, it would be circulated for public consultation. “It is very important that we have buy-in from the community before implementing a new strategy,” Taylor told the press.
He said the areas that the plan would cover would include local at-risk youth, tighter immigration security, education and employment issues, and speeding up the justice system. The governor also spoke about the need for a gang reduction strategy. This was not just about the police rounding up gang members, he explained, but a community-wide campaign to reduce the attractiveness of being a gang member and to spell out to young people the realities and brutality of life as a gang member.
“We need to demystifying the idea of gangs and reduce the attraction to young people,” Taylor suggested.
He also said the prison needed to be examined because there were concerns that inmates were able to contact other gang members as they had access to cell phones. But he also said that there was a need to examine rehabilitation projects.
When it came to the criminal justice system itself the governor spoke about the use of tagging for offenders, as well as witness protection schemes, judge-only trials in certain limited cases, and ways to protect intelligence.
He was keen to stress that this role and that of the NSC was to create a wider national crime reduction policy but not to interfere with the actual operational aspect of crime. The day to day activity, he said, was down to the commissioner.
The NSC was mandated in the 2009 Constitution to provide advice to the governor on internal security matters. Council members are Premier McKeeva Bush, Deputy Governor DonovanEbanks, Leader of the Opposition Kurt Tibbetts, Attorney General Sam Bulgin, Police Commissioner David Baines, cabinet ministers Juliana O’Connor-Connolly and Mark Scotland. Representing civil society are businesspersons Brigitte Kirkconnell-Shaughness and Dan Scott, while Orrett Connor will serve as the NSC Secretary.
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He said the areas that the plan would cover would include local at-risk youth, tighter immigration security, education and employment issues, and speeding up the justice system. The governor also spoke about the need for a gang reduction strategy. This was not just about the police rounding up gang members, he explained, but a community-wide campaign to reduce the attractiveness of being a gang member and to spell out to young people the realities and brutality of life as a gang member.
Well said Your Excellency and thank you very much for your excellent insight of what is happening in this country. You are a very wise man to have accessed the major problems of this country in such a short time since your arrival.
Our representatives are still searching for the root cause(s) of the crime problems and believe me some have been at it for over one generation, others more than a decade and some almost one year. Your Excellency you are a jewel to these islands it took you less than the standard probationary period to figure out our problems.
I would recommend that you run all the affairs of this country alone and I am very confident that you will have it on the right course and solvent in less that one month.
Again, thank you Your Excellency, for a job well done. You will go down in the history of these islands as a "Great Governor", thank you for the genuine instrest that you have in thiscountry and its people.
Our Governor is obviously an intelligent man who takes his time to assess and come to his own conclusions. I am happy to join the many on CNS singing praises to His Excellency. I hope though that he will also look closely at those who have been hand picked and placed in high positions within the civil service, that he will get to know who they really are and not buy into the false smiles and pretenses that often cloud the vision of others. The wolves in sheep clothing need to be discovered and removed before we will see improvement in the civil service and our community.
Please Mr. Govenor will you please do something about the new National Conservation Law so we can have our environment saved before it’s to late.
I think they are performing because some very strong letters showing up their weaknesses, shortcoings and evasiveness have been coming from those intellectual writers of the CNS forums. CNS have some ofthe most dangerous writers that will make your brain spin out of proportion, and they make sense. I believe when those writers recommended that the governor bring in the British soldiers /Marines, that was it for them. No More! they said to themselves, we have got to perform. and they did.
Excellent! I think I like this Governor!
It is clear to me, this Governor means business. He appears genuine and fearless. I believe he will leave his mark here.
If he is delivering, I’ll take a two dozen wings, hot. Thanks.
Well let’s hope that the Governor is right & that he will deliver, because that is our only hope because after 10 months in charge McKeeva Bush & the UDP sure haven’t been able to.
Mckeeva Bush has spent so much time blaming the PPM (& travelling) that he has neglected the country & therefore has not delivered! He promised to do so much to fix the situation even in these times of recession, but has only been able to make things worse.
I wish he would pay more attention to our countrys needs rather than his own (and travelling)!
Despite all he & his UDP cronies claim about the new constitution calling for these perks that he is enjoying & demanding, the fact is that the new consitution calls for none of it. The UDP & Mckeeva Bush are not telling the truth. The 8 foot wall around his residence ($100,000 paid by us), the cook/housekeeper, the personal driver, the body guards, & all of the other unnecessary XXXX that Mckeeva Bush is demanding for himself as premier is not something that the new consitution demands. These are personal requests to fill his ego, nothing else, & it is a waste of money in these tough times when Caymanians are struggling & suffering! SHAME Mr. Bush.
I sure as hell hope that the Governor will deliver, because someone has to stop this tyrant. They can’t blame PPM no longer, they wanted UDP, well they got UDP! Help us Mr. Governor, PLEASE!~
You forget that its not up to McKeewa but up to the almighty himself to solve all of our problems and issues. I hope you have your knee protectors ready for tomorrows mass humbling.
Although I fear not much action will follow, or the action that does follow will not be substantial enough, I’m at least a little relieved to hear a cohesive and formal acknowledgement of the situation we’re facing. Someone needed to make logical recognition without falling into the politicks and blame-game that doesn’t even come close to holding hands with this issue.
Goodluck Mr. D, you might not have the utmost authority over the people of these islands but I would like to finally gain the trust of someone, anyone, who has a say in the policies we need to implement to fix the many issues we face today. Don’t stop with a statement – make an example of what it means to have authority and how you can use it correctly. If only in your personal best interest, leave a legacy behind so we might have some faith in the future of our beloved islands.
Dear Gov’na, I think I quite like you.
It seems to me that Governor Taylor has been taking the time to discern for himself what is happening in our community and and thinking of ways to address it.
After reading this, my confidence was bolstered a little…and I’m not one who believes that the UK has Cayman’s best interest at heart.
Kudos Governor Taylor.
Passing through Eastern Avenue tonight I was pleasantly surprised to see a group of Police on foot walking the Eastern Avenue Street. Well done Governor Taylor and Commissioner Baines. One do not have that fearful feeling once Police presence can be seen.THE WAY TO GO.