H. Res. 865 

In the House of Representatives, U. S., 

April 9, 2008. 

Whereas, in his 2006 New Year’s address, then Prime Minister of Jamaica, P.J. Patterson, said, ‘‘Without a doubt, 

the high level of violent crime remains our most troubling 

and pressing problem.’’; 

Whereas, in opening the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago 

in September 2005, President George Maxwell Richards 

said his country was in crisis due to the escalating crime 

rate; 

Whereas, in March 2007, the United Nations Office on 

Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Bank 

for Reconstruction and Development (World Bank) 

issued a report entitled, ‘‘Crime, Violence, and Development: Trends, Costs, and Policy Options in the Caribbean’’; 

Whereas the UNODC and World Bank report presents detailed analyses of crime and violence in the Caribbean region and offers possible policy responses; 

Whereas the UNODC and World Bank report draws on input 

from governments, civil society organizations, and Caribbean experts; 

Whereas the UNODC and World Bank report that the Caribbean region has the highest murder and assault rates in 
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the world, with murder rates at 4 times the level of the 

United States; 

Whereas the UNODC and World Bank report that high 

crime levels have long term developmental effects on the 

Caribbean— 

(1) crime cost the Jamaican economy 

$12,400,000,000 in Jamaican dollars, 3.7 percent of its 

gross domestic product, in 2001; and 

(2) reducing the region-wide homicide rate by 1⁄3

could over double the rate of economic growth per capita; 

and 

Whereas the UNODC and World Bank report reached the 

following conclusions— 

(1) Caribbean countries are transit points and not 

producers of cocaine. Interdiction needs to be complemented by other strategies outside the region: principally demand reduction in consumer countries and 

eradication and/or alternative development in producer 

countries; 

(2) illegal gun trafficking is a dangerous outgrowth 

of the drug trade. Better enforcement methods help, as 

can improved gun interdiction in ports; 

(3) deaths and injuries from youth violence constitute a major threat to public health and social and economic progress across the Caribbean. Youth are disproportionately represented in the ranks of both victims 

and perpetrators of crime and violence; 

(4) although the average deportee from the United 

States to the Caribbean is not involved in criminal activity, a minority of deportees may be causing serious problems, both by direct involvement in crime and by providing a perverse role model for youth. The report rec-
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ommends that more services be offered to reintegrate deportees, with deporting countries contributing to the cost 

of these programs; 

(5) some types of crime, such as organized crime 

and drug and illegal firearms trafficking, are impervious 

to alternative prevention initiatives and require an efficient criminal justice system, and therefore urgent priorities for improving the criminal justice system in the region include the development of management information 

systems, tracking of justice system performance, monitoring of reform programs, and increased accountability 

to citizens; 

(6) several Caribbean countries are increasingly investing in crime prevention—using approaches such as 

integrated citizen security programs, crime prevention 

through environmental design, and a public health approach that focuses on risk factors for violent behaviors; 

(7) youth violence is a particularly serious problem 

in the region, and youth homicide rates in several countries of the region are significantly above the world average. To address issues of youth violence, Caribbean policymakers should invest in programs that have been 

shown to be successful in careful evaluations such as: (i) 

early childhood development and mentoring programs; (ii) 

interventions to keep high risk youth in secondary 

schools; and (iii) opening schools after hours and on 

weekends to offer additional activities and training; and 

(8) many of the issues facing the Caribbean transcend national boundaries and require a coordinated regional and international response. Demand for drugs 

emanates from Europe and the United States; deportees 

are sent back to the region from the United States, the 

United Kingdom, and Canada; and many weapons that 
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are trafficked are brought from the United States: Now, 

therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

(1) welcomes the recommendations for more effective law enforcement and crime prevention efforts contained in the March 2007 UNODC and World Bank report, ‘‘Crime, Violence, and Development: Trends, Costs, 

and Policy Options in the Caribbean’’, to the extent 

those recommendations do not conflict with existing U.S. 

law; 

(2) urges the United States Government to consider 

fully and carefully the recommendations in the UNODC 

and World Bank Report and to take the recommendations into account when developing United States policy 

toward the current member states of the Caribbean 

Community (CARICOM) and the Dominican Republic; 

(3) urges the governments of United States and 

other drug-consuming countries to increase counter-narcotics assistance to the current member states of 

CARICOM and the Dominican Republic; 

(4) urges the United States Government to increase 

coordination on policy development and implementation 

with the current member states of CARICOM and the 

Dominican Republic to help combat crime and violence 

in the region; 
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(5) urges the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security to work with the current 

member states of CARICOM and the Dominican Republic to mitigate the negative effects of United States deportation policy; 

(6) urges the current member states of CARICOM 

and the Dominican Republic to consider fully and carefully the recommendations in the UNODC and World 

Bank Report, and to take the recommendations into account, especially regarding improvements in their criminal justice systems; and 

(7) urges the United States Government to consider 

the impact on the current member states of CARICOM 

and the Dominican Republic of the proposed Merida Initiative to combat drugs, violence, and transnational 

crime in Mexico and Central America, especially whether 

a successful plan will drive narco-traffickers from Mexico 

and Central America to the current member states of 

CARICOM or the Dominican Republic. 

Attest: 

Clerk.