Budget reveals revival of counter crime project; former worker questions timing

A former employee of Project Building Blocks (PBB) is questioning the timing of the re-emergence of the programme and hopes it is not just an election gimmick.

The programme, which was first called the Citizen Security Programme, is set to return next year.

During his Budget presentation on Monday, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said the ministry will “reinforce Project Building Blocks in the crime management strategy” in 2025. Last month, the Ministry of National Security advertised the position of programme director for the PBB with an application deadline of October 11.

In a telephone interview with Guardian Media yesterday, a former employee of the programme, who asked not to be named, said it yielded results and should not have stopped two years ago.

“I guess the mitigating circumstances like the escalation of crime and election next year could make them want to bring back the programme. The programme was successful. We had a 40 per cent reduction in shootings and gang violence in the east Port-of-Spain area,” the former employee said.

The past employee added that after the programme ran from 2020 to 2022, officials met with representatives from the Ministry of National Security to reinstate it but that did not happen.

Other past employees, who also asked not to be identified, explained that the two-year hiatus undermined the connections made with gangsters who turned away from a life of crime and began getting involved in farming and animal rearing. During the two-year break, some returned to crime, they claimed.

One former PBB employee lamented that the effectiveness of the programme takes at least three to five years to materialise.

“Five years is adequate (for the programme to have maximum effect), probably the Government knows what they are doing. Because we were not active for two years, it caused the trust the people had in us to be eroded. So, when we go back in now, we will have to re-earn that trust all over again.”

With the programme on the verge of being revamped, the former employees said they did not want to be identified for fear that they may be victimised and not rehired.

What is PBB?

PBB follows the cure violence methodology using a public health approach to crime and violence reduction. The programme consisted of outreach workers (OW) and violence interrupters (VI) who worked within the communities they were assigned.

Before it was called Project Building Blocks, it was called Project Reason, which stemmed from the Citizen Security Programme that was launched in 2008 and financed partially by a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

CSP targeted 36 “high-needs” communities using the cure violence model adopted from gang reduction tactics first used in Chicago. The method hinges on five principles, outreach to at-risk youths, public education, faith-based involvement, community mobilisation, and collaboration with law enforcement agencies.

While Imbert did not allocate any money during his budget presentation for PBB, $2.1 million was allocated in 2020, $2.6 million the following year and $3 million in 2022. However, draft estimates showed only $878,740 was used.

During the Standing Finance Committee meeting last year, National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds explained the project was reviewed for greater efficiency. He added that it was partnered with another anti-gang project, Project GRACE.

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