The police senior command has announced a major change in how it interfaces with gangs and responds to social violence.
The Office of the Commissioner sent a message this morning announcing that a new unit named the Violence Prevention and Enforcement Team has been formed. It will subsume the Special Patrol Unit but be established as a separate national unit under the command of ASP Rodney Jones. It will be responsible for, quote, "the coordinated management of high-risk offenders through targeted monitoring, preventative patrol, proactive engagement, and focused enforcement operations…"
ASP Jones will be answerable to Senior Superintendent Christopher Noble, who is being assigned overall supervisory responsibility for the Leadership Intelligence Unit, the GI3, and this newly established team. The police command says this will "integrate three complementary pillars of our gang violence reduction strategy."
A police message adds, "The integration of these three units under a single command will strengthen operational coordination, improve information sharing, eliminate duplication of efforts, and ensure a more effective response to gang violence and other serious criminal threats."
The changes represent a major shift in the approach to tackling violent crime and gang mediation. Noble is one of the pioneers of community policing.
