00:00 Parents are responsible for preventing criminals from being produced in society
00:05 and the police are responsible for stopping criminals in their tracks. This
00:09 is the view of the top cop in a nutshell.
00:12 Earla Harewood Christopher points to deteriorating behaviors caused by a
00:16 complete breakdown in the parenting system as a main reason for the
00:21 violence in society. She says at a school level this breakdown is resulting in
00:26 intolerance and disrespect on the part of children toward adults including
00:31 teachers and even security guards. We are witnessing an even greater breakdown
00:37 where parents seem to be relinquishing their authority as parent to a child and
00:44 that too leads to disrespect and violence. In the communities the
00:53 upbringing of a child is no longer the pride of the community elders as such
01:00 leadership is no longer recognized and respected. She says this results in the
01:06 committing of offenses punishable by law for which pressure is then placed on the
01:11 police to solve the problem. By then it is too late and what we are confronted
01:19 with is an unrealistic expectation that the police can somehow miraculously
01:26 transform the propensity, the disposition, the behaviors of people with criminal
01:33 intent. How practical our proposition is that policing is not a substitute to
01:43 parenting. The police as a law enforcement agency has its very definite
01:50 role of ensuring the laws are enforced and that any infractions are detected
01:58 and prosecuted. According to the Commissioner in a conscious society this
02:03 should serve as a deterrent to crime. But there's also a very definite and
02:08 perhaps more important role to be performed by parents and guardians in
02:14 the nurturing of our young people and this role requires very deliberate
02:21 actions. The Top Corp states that parents need to be exemplars by way of respect
02:27 and discipline. Herewood Christopher also highlights the need for parents to be
02:32 actively involved in the lives of their children. When parents become an
02:37 absentee or neglect their children they create a vacancy for someone else to
02:45 fill and too often it is filled by persons of ill repute with the wrong
02:51 influence. She believes it would all go well for society if children are
02:56 introduced to the police before offenses are committed. Talk to us, help us to get
03:03 involved before it is too late. The police commissioner was speaking at the
03:08 launch of the National Parenting Program 2023 under the Ministry of Social
03:13 Development and Family Services. Alicia Boucher TV6 News
03:21 [BLANK_AUDIO]
