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And a large part of that success has to be from the Leadership Intervention Unit.
They are in charge of mediations and the job program that pays around 300 gang members a weekly salary to do civil works in their neighborhoods.
Jomarie Lanza spoke to the chairlady today about her first 6 months - picking up where the legendary William Dawson left off:
Reporter:
"So my question would be do you feel accomplished with everything you've done these past few months?"
Dominique Norales, Chairperson - LIU
"I feel like we've made some headway for sure fixing some of the systems making sure than we are more efficient making sure that we are creating space for all of the mechanisms that we have to work as well as it can. Now I started in June so six months is a very small period of time in the grand scheme of things so we are just trying to make sure that the foundations are fixed so that when we launch our programmes in the next fiscal year that we are solid and we don't have to go back to fix anything that is systematic and that we just have to programmatically rev up."
Reporter:
"Is there anything that surprised you when you first took office?"
Dominique Norales, Chairperson - LIU
"There are a lot of things that would have surprised me but really just the share value and impact that Mr Dawson would have made I think in some ways I am still feeding off of that sort of energy and respect but I think I'm due course and I think even now there is good relationships that have been built some that we still need to work on some that we still need to solidify but just the sheer impact of Mr Dawsons existence really I don't think I would have appreciated how, because I met him previously on different occasions but I don't think I would Have or could have appreciated what a huge impact he would have made."
Reporter:
"The programme itself, would you say it has a major impact on the crime rate and would you say that, I know there is still a lot of work to be done, but is there any specific area that you feel needs more attention compared to others?"
Dominique Norales, Chairperson - LIU
"Certainly I think we have to focus a bit more on our reintegration programmes in Belize on a whole as a part of our grand social protection system I don't think there is a bridge between when someone interacts with the Justice system and then when they come out and back into society right and while I don't have the numbers of recidivism. I do know that a lot of the young men that come to our office on their own or when we are engaged in mediations and conflict a lot of them have engaged with the system and they just didn't have a bridge to make sure that they stay out of the Justice, legal system in that way right so I really want to ensure that strength our reintegration mechanisms for sure. More programs to target some younger men and young women as we have seen from studies right because young women are also engaged in some of the gang activities so making sure that we target young people but also ensuring that when they have interacted with the system some time within the system that they are Integrated back into society and that they have the tools that they need to function properly and not end up in a life of criminality again."
Reporter:
"Are you confident that you will be able to make progress with this reintegration because you have a very difficult job of working with people and people can be very unpredictable."
"So in circumstances where I guess you might find it's harder to cooperate or work with them, what exactly do you do in these areas?"
Dominique Norales, Chairperson - LIU
"I think people are difficult everywhere Jomarie and so no matter what career I had I'm sure I would have to engage with difficult people. I don't, I know a lot of people would believe that the work, some people not a lot of people believe that the work that LIU does is wasting money on people and all of this but we must never stop trying because I believe if we save one person if we change the mind of one person we are doing great work you know and so while there is always the fear of failure and the fear of people falling behind people not keeping their commitments to us within the LIU, the beneficiaries are the clients that we deal with there are people who still try their best not to engage in the life style and we must not let everyone suffer because a few people have disappointed us you know. So while it will be a difficult job I am up to the task and I'm sure my team is up for the task."
