SURVIVAL: Crime consultant says youth gang association about staying alive

SURVIVAL: Crime consultant says youth gang association about staying alive

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A lack of parental guidance, the desire to make money, and the vulnerability to external influences are all contributing factors to young men getting involved in gang culture, according to Anti-crime Consultant Carlos Reid.

“The rule in the hood is I wanna get paid, I wanna get mine and this is the way that they are being taught how to get theirs,” Reid said.

He pointed to students’ poor academic performance, comparing it to the high level of recidivism at the prison. He said that while there is a low probability of being a successful student, there is a high probability of being a career criminal.

Reid said: “Right now the hood mentality is winning, the hood mentality is now looking more prosperous than what I would look at if I go through the system that they’re teaching me in school.

“[…] Something is wrong with that system; and until we collectively come up with a national approach to fix, the mold, then we will continue to reap what we’ve been reaping.”

Law enforcement officials have spoken to the increasing amount of males in their late teens and early 20’s becoming the majority of those involved in the most recent incidents of gun violence.

The prime minister and National Security officials have reported that they are seeking to tackle the illegal firearms issue with the establishment of a Firearms Task Force and the possible formation of a firearms court to address related matters swiftly.

Reid says that he believes that while many young men are associated with gangs and guns, he does not think that they are the ones bringing them into the country.

“Young people can’t bring these guns into this country like this,” he said.

“The persons, what we see on these wanted posters and stuff, if they were to come to the airport, we ga search them down. So we gatta ask ourself and be realistic; then who’s bringing them in?

“[…] Most of the murders that are being committed as being done with firearms. So when we look at the persons now that are being victims and the alleged perpetrators, they are young people, but they’re not the suppliers. So we need to cut the supply,” he said.

On Monday, Police Commissioner Clayton Fernander said that people make themselves targets by hanging with family members who are committing crimes and not reporting instances to the police.

In the same breath, Reid says that family can mitigate, from an even earlier age, if parents are more involved in what their children are doing because “the devil finds work for idle hands”.

“Everybody would like to be able to be at a place where they could be able to take their children on vacation, be able to buy the finest set of things in life,” he said.

“That’s what most of these people are looking for. They are looking to be empowered. This is why, like, in the communities the drug dealers and, the gangsters got more influence than the parents because they look more like success than the parents look.”

Reid explained that everyone has a role to play in taking responsibility when it comes to crime. He says society should be an agent of support and empowerment for young people and the community as a whole; because at the end of the day, everyone is affected by the issue of gang culture and gun violence.