UNITED States Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Uzra Zeya has lamented the increase in gun violence and mass shootings in the country.
Zeya spoke yesterday at a side event of the IX Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California.
Delivering remarks titled “Promoting an Integrated City-Led Approach to Violence Prevention: Sharing Lessons and Good Practices Across the Americas,” Zeya said: “We’re experiencing the horrors of gun violence and mass shootings on a far too regular basis. The U.S.’s global leadership is stronger when we honestly talk about and confront our own challenges with citizen security here at home. This is why the Biden-Harris Administration has shown its commitment to this issue by proposing $5 billion for community violence prevention programmes in the United States, and $4 billion for Central America to address the root causes of migration, including violence prevention programs, and a proposed holistic approach to security and counter narcotics strategy throughout the region. This major investment presents an historic opportunity to vaccinate against violence and is an important move in the right direction. The pandemic of violence needs to end now. We can and must get this done for all our futures.”
Zeya said the event reflected the importance America placed on supporting violence prevention efforts across the Americas.
She added that a worldwide violence epidemic impacts communities across the globe. He quoted Insight Crime report on the fact that the Americas have 47 of the world’s 50 most murderous cities.
She said: “Despite the challenges there is reason for greater optimism. Research has shed light on evidence-based strategies to prevent and reduce violent crime and gang-related violence by establishing a greater balance between the public health and law enforcement aspects of public security.”
Zeya said evidence indicated that urban violence was often committed by a small number of individuals, especially young men involved in substance abuse.
She said: “In most major cities, only 0.5 percent of the population is responsible for 75 percent of the homicides.
“The most effective strategies to reduce homicidal violence therefore must focus on where violence happens, who is involved, and how those involved are behaving.”
Zeya said findings informed State Department and USAID’s response to citizen security programming in the Americas.
“For INL this has meant support for community policing, building data collection systems, training law enforcement in investigations, and a combination of youth-police engagement. USAID also takes a community-focused approach working with municipalities aimed at preventing recruitment of youth into gangs and delinquent behavior. At the same time, governments in the Americas are investing in rule of law and social programs as a long-term strategy,” she added.
She said there was need to prioritise a public health approach to dealing with all forms of violence, adding that violence prevention required data-driven diagnosis with clear metrics for success.
“We know it’s important to collect data for hotspot mapping, to differentiate risk levels explaining why small groups of mainly young men are more likely to join gangs or carry out delinquent acts. Similarly, we should use the latest research on behavior change to build community trust in police so residents report crimes, and to improve capacity to investigate and prosecute crimes. Clear outcome indicators are crucial and should be linked to impact evaluations so that we can more rapidly scale up evidence-based violence prevention strategies,” she said.
She also called for strengthening the police, instilling respect for rule of law and human rights and capacity building for those working on violence prevention.
