THE Community Policing Organisation of Guyana (CPOG) and the Ministry of Public Security, in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), on Sunday launched a Social Crime Prevention Training Course for community policing groups in Guyana.

The five-week Community, Family and Youth Resilience (CFYR) Social Crime Prevention Training Course is for community policing groups and volunteers who aid in their communities’ development.
The launch was held at the Cara Lodge on Quamina Street, Georgetown, where Ato Augustine, Primary Prevention Specialist CFYR, noted that the course’s curriculum is geared towards capacity building for community policing groups in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica).

He added that the primary aim of the programme is to educate persons on how to prevent social crimes such as domestic violence, child abuse and gang-related crimes involving youths, so that they can create a safer place for persons living in their community and share their knowledge across Guyana.

The programme also aims to enhance the problem-solving and communication skills of members of policing groups and volunteers, so that they are equipped to handle domestic violence cases and sensitive crimes involving youths.

In the coming weeks, course participants will be educated on communication and leadership skills; the root causes of youth crime and violence and the comprehension of domestic violence and youth relationships.

At the end of the programme the trainees will be taught prevention strategies and techniques they can use and share in their various communities.
To address the critical issues? facing the Eastern and Southern Caribbean, USAID launched several programmes in 2015 to reduce youth involvement in crime and violence, in communities through the Family and Youth Resilience Programme in Guyana and throughout the Caribbean.

The programme benefits at-risk youths by strengthening family and community support systems to create alternatives and strategies to tackle youth involvement in crime.