Inspirational speech by Violent Crime Reduction chief

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I recently attended a presentation organised by the Belfast Policing and Community Safety Partnership, which was held at the Hilton Hotel, Belfast. This was a public event so I invited Naomi, an intern from Belgium University of Leuven to accompany me.  This was the first day of her placement and I believed that attending this presentation would inform her whole stay with us.

I say this because CRJI is based on a set of values and a community philosophy that no problem is too great and that for every problem there is a solution.

Giving the presentation was Karyn McCluskey, leader of the Violent Crime Reduction unit, Strathclyde Police, Scotland. She was an inspirational speaker who made an inspirational presentation.

Central themes quickly emerged from what Karyn said: innovation; no problem too big; investing in people of community; policing is not the answer to deep-rooted issues of crime; giving young people hope and most significantly of all that violent crime should be viewed as a health problem.

The above synopsis of what Karyn talked about was like listening to a CRJI presentation, which was great for Naomi. The added ingredient was how the presentation was delivered, Karyn’s style was what we expect in the community.

She was passionate, spoke in plain language talked about ‘I’ and ‘we’, our ‘team’ and as she did there was not one hint of self promotion. She spoke of people, families, hopes and dreams and key to this she said that she and like-minded people were “only enablers”. This hit the spot as CRJI have been saying this for years. We have consistently said to our practitioners that this is real empowerment.

Clearly Karyn McCluskey understands and promotes the idea that issues which originate in communities can best be resolved from within these communities. Unlocking the potential of community should be an aim for everyone in community through to all the relevant statutory agencies.

We already have evidence that this works, from sporting organisations like the GAA, boxing fraternity or athletics to the AA, youth, art and health groups. All make positive contributions to community and wider society because they have a clear focus of investing in people, and that folks is the key for us all if we are to collectively deliver safer caring communities.