Kingston mayor wants balanced approach to tackling crime against children
Published:Saturday | June 24, 2023 | 1:00 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
DELROY WILLIAMS, mayor of Kingston, wants the entire country to get more involved in taking a more comprehensive and balanced approach to addressing the ongoing issue of child abuse, neglect and violence.
Criminal acts against children should not just be the concern and responsibility of the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Child Protection and Family Services Agency and other agencies of the state to interrogate, investigate and prosecute, according to Mayor Williams.
He believes that what happens in the homes during the formative years has a lot to do with what transpires when children step out into the wider society. For this reason he described child murder as a complex issue, transcending different disciplines.
“So there has to be a comprehensive approach to dealing with the issues in terms of the law enforcement side from intelligence gathering, investigation, to prosecution of cases. That is one side, but you also have to look at the issues relating to parenting and child protection, ensuring that you have heavy input by the parents and heavy involvement also at the levels of church and school,” he said.
“There is no one department, agency or discipline to deal with it, so it can’t be just about enhancing your policing, investigating or prosecutorial capacity,” he emphasised.
The mayor was speaking with the media at the Crying Child monument at Secret Gardens at the intersection of Church and Tower streets, downtown Kingston, yesterday, where members of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation took part in a wreath-laying ceremony, in solidarity with the Day of National Mourning announced by Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, for child victims of violence and abuse.
Youth mayor of Kingston, Khijan Williams, who attends Kingston College, also participated in the ceremony and described it as a solemn day.
“We’ve seen in the last couple of weeks some heinous crimes against our children … . It is a call to action to not only pay homage and remember those who would have passed, but acknowledge that we have a responsibility to keep those among us, especially our children safe,” he told The Gleaner.