The number of gangs in our high schools is said to be declining, thanks to police intervention through the Safe Schools Programme.

Speaking at the STAR Hunt For Child Killers Forum recently, Superintendent Norman Heywood, head of the Safe Schools Programme, revealed that the number of known gangs in schools fell from 10 in 2004 - 2005 to seven between September 2005 - June 2006. He also said that the cops seized a total of 782 offensive weapons (knives, machetes, scissors, razor blades e.t.c) and 10 guns over the same period.

"The presence of the police on the school compounds have caused a decrease especially in weapons recovered on the school compound," Supt. Heywood.

The programme, implemented in 2004 in 114 schools, have seen 97 School Resource Officers being assigned to troubled schools.

Some of the gangs that exist in schools have root in gangs that exist in the wider community. Hopeton Henry, president of the Jamaica Teachers Association, said it has been confirmed that gangs exist in schools. He also pointed out that there were junior One Order and Clansman gangs in Spanish Town schools. THE STAR also recently published a story about a gang of schoolboys from a prominent high school that was wanted by the police for questioning in relation to a number of crimes.

Threatening teachers

Superintendent Heywood added that the presence of gangs in schools was something the police force was paying attention to and added, "They are sometimes responsible for cases of extortion, robbery with aggravation and threatening teachers. We have to be asking parents to know who their children's friends are."

A student of a high school in St. Ann told the STAR that there were several crews and gangs at his school. He also added that many students, especially males, brought illegal weapons to school daily. He told the STAR, "Oh god man. A whole heap a gang dung deh. All wha day ya dem stab mi fren inna him head." He explained that the community was divided into three main sections,and told the STAR that boys from these areas 'controlled' the school.

He said, "You have man from Liberty Valley, Standfast and Goshen, a dem deh man deh run di school. Di whole a dem group up together and dem do whole heap a sittn'. One time, dem beat up one bwoy an im father come fi defend it. Some man jump di wall and start attack him, a police haffi come escort di man outta di school."

But this is a thing of the past, according to Corporal Owen Smith, who is a school resource officer assigned to some schools in St. Ann. He said that the school to which the student was referring had a chronic problem with violence but stressed that there were no more gangs there. He said however that boys often walk in cliques and admitted that there were some instances of bullying. He said searches, counselling and weekly visits to the school helped in reducing the incidence of violence. He said the school has a panic button but this has not been used since the start of the school year.

He added that some boys took knives and scissors to school and spoke of an instance where he seized a home-made weapon fash -ioned like a 9 mm from a student at another school. This boy was confined to a home for three years. He said a raid at one of the schools in April yielded about 9 knives, 8 pairs of scissors and an imitation gun designed like a automatic weapon.

Superintendent Heywood told the STAR, that the students often conceal the weapons in ceilings, so they enter the compound clean, resulting in less being seized.