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Inner-city J'can youth now captain in world-famous LAPD
BY DESMOND ALLEN Executive Editor — Operations allend@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1mqMOupec
IN his early teens, Peter Whittingham had an unmistakable choice — succumb to the mind-bending pressures of the sprawling slums of Canterbury, St James, or rise above its desperate poverty, senseless violence and wanton waste of often promising young lives.
Today, as a highly regarded police professional, captain of police and expert in anti-gang enforcement strategies in the world-famous Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Whittingham can celebrate the choice he made to become a career police officer, first in Jamaica and then in the United States of America.
WHITTINGHAM... I had to find creative but effective ways to fight the gang problem
WHITTINGHAM... I had to find creative but effective ways to fight the gang problem
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And it is no surprise that the brutal violence of gang-war in and around the Canterbury of his childhood — from the late 1960s to early 1970s — has become his purpose and passion, and the reason he is reaching out to help in the effort to rid the streets of gang violence that is ruining the reputation of his island home that he loves so dearly.
"Canterbury was one of the most gang-infested areas in Jamaica. As a youngster, I witnessed first-hand the violence of those gang wars that ruined the lives of many of my childhood friends in communities such as Gully, Glendevon, Railway Lane, Salem, among others," Whittingham recalled in an interview with the Sunday Observer.
"I felt helpless, but I was determined not to become a victim, and I knew that there was a better way... I would love to share my experiences with some of the gangsters of today," Whittingham said.
Towering above six feet tall, very articulate and clearly knowledgeable about effective strategies to combat gang crimes, 57-year-old Whittingham was in Jamaica recently to bury his mother who passed away on January 14. But he used the occasion to drop in on Police Commissioner Owen Ellington, for whom, he said, he has developed tremendous respect.
Whittingham said he owed everything he has achieved to the foundation laid by the JCF, and he would like nothing better than an opportunity to give back. Although he did not go into details about his discussions with Commissioner Ellington, Whittingham indicated that he shared his experience as a gang expert with the top cop, and expressed his willingness to be a part of the commissioner's team to reduce gang violence in Jamaica.
"From my long years of battling gangs in LA, I have learnt, as my chief of police says, that you simply cannot arrest your way out of gang violence," said Whittingham.
"As the officer in charge of a gang unit in what was one of the most violent areas in Los Angeles (South west Area), I had to find creative but effective ways to fight the gang problem.
"While we employed aggressive enforcement strategies that were designed to suppress gang violence and apprehend gang members, it was only after we took a multi- faceted approach... combining proactive/preventative measures with intervention, and building collaborative partnership with all the stakeholders (including gang members)... It was only after we brought all these pieces together that we saw our best and sustaining results."
Whittingham acknowledged that there are different factors affecting the environment, mindset, and social needs of the Jamaican youth... But he insisted that the formula, when properly applied (with support from the community and the political establishment), will bring about similar results.
"As a police officer, I am a natural crime fighter. But I bring something else to the table — the experiences of my past in Canterbury.
"I am able to look at the causation factors behind the formation of gangs and to feel the emotions of seeing that the violence is still affecting my neighbourhood, 37 years later. In fact, I recently lost a nephew to gang violence in Montego Bay, two days before the death of my mother, so it hits very close to home," he said.
Whittingham said he was the first to bring former gang members and representatives of the 23 most active gangs in Southwest (LA) face to face with all his officers "to vent, shout at each other, and then to talk with each other... that set the tone and laid the foundation for a respectful relationship to develop, opening a wider door for dealing with our gang problem".
"After that, respect started to develop. Then trust started to develop. And soon, those gang members who wanted to live a different life were offered the opportunity to do so," commented Whittingham.
He said all this took place in an area where five of the top-10 gangs in Los Angeles were based. "...And for the first time in several years, the crime rate dropped by 27 per cent in the division."
Although he acknowledged that the number was slowly going down, he noted that the murder rate in Jamaica was far too high, comparing the population of 4.5 million people in Los Angeles with the 2.7 million people in Jamaica.
"When I heard that we had 30 murders in the first nine days of the New Year, I couldn't help but cry inside. Last year there were just over 1,100 murders here in Jamaica. If we have 300 homicides in LA, it becomes a major outcry. I know we can't be soft on crime, but I believe there is a way to reach many gang members... to find alternative ways to settle their differences.
"Many of the guys killed were gangsters, but I am sure that they left behind children, spouses, parents, sisters, brothers. To me, it is a life lost, not just a gang member... In many cases, it might have even been a young man who could have grown up to become a police captain in Los Angeles.
"When you approach it that way, you see the wisdom of employing proactive, preventative strategies, and a by-product of this approach and sensitivity is more cooperation from the families and the community at large," he added.
Captain Whittingham suggested that Jamaican political parties should decisively cut their ties with criminal gangs and to work with former gang members to develop job skills so that they can play a more productive role in society.
"Our political leaders must make a commitment to change the environment that appears receptive to gang activities. Additionally, we need to revitalise the communities that have become breeding grounds for gangs... For example; nothing has changed in Canterbury since I left there to join the JCF in 1974. With little or no emphasis on sustained community development, the gangs will always be replenished," he said.
Whittingham was an immigration officer when he migrated in 1983 and was shortly after hired by the University of Southern California (USC) campus police department. After graduating from the LAPD Academy, having joined the department in 1988, he continued his formal education at The University of La Verne, California, where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Public Administration.
He is a graduate of the LAPD West Point Leadership Programme and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Academy.
He rapidly moved up the ranks from his first field assignment in the Wilshire Area to the rank of sergeant in October 1991; detective in March 1994 assigned to North Hollywood Detective Division; Sergeant II in October 1995 assigned to Internal Affairs Group; lieutenant in March 1999 assigned to Pacific Area as a watch commander; Administrative Lieutenant assigned to Southwest Area as the officer in charge of the Southwest Area Gang Impact Team in July 2003.
Whittingham was transferred to the Pacific Area as the assistant commanding officer, Los Angeles International Airport, LAX Field Services Division, and made captain on May 10, 2009, and assigned as the commanding officer, Hollywood Patrol Division.
He has kept in touch with several past police commissioners and remains a member of the Ex-Police Immigration Officers Association of Jamaica (headquarters in New York).
Captain Whittingham currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Belinda, and his two younger children, Sophia and Victoria. He also has four other grown children: Pedro, Ladonna, Damion, and Randy who is a student in Arizona State University.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1mqLqXwhy
BY DESMOND ALLEN Executive Editor — Operations allend@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1mqMOupec
IN his early teens, Peter Whittingham had an unmistakable choice — succumb to the mind-bending pressures of the sprawling slums of Canterbury, St James, or rise above its desperate poverty, senseless violence and wanton waste of often promising young lives.
Today, as a highly regarded police professional, captain of police and expert in anti-gang enforcement strategies in the world-famous Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Whittingham can celebrate the choice he made to become a career police officer, first in Jamaica and then in the United States of America.
WHITTINGHAM... I had to find creative but effective ways to fight the gang problem
WHITTINGHAM... I had to find creative but effective ways to fight the gang problem#slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img {filter:none !important;zoom:normal !important}
1/1 And it is no surprise that the brutal violence of gang-war in and around the Canterbury of his childhood — from the late 1960s to early 1970s — has become his purpose and passion, and the reason he is reaching out to help in the effort to rid the streets of gang violence that is ruining the reputation of his island home that he loves so dearly.
"Canterbury was one of the most gang-infested areas in Jamaica. As a youngster, I witnessed first-hand the violence of those gang wars that ruined the lives of many of my childhood friends in communities such as Gully, Glendevon, Railway Lane, Salem, among others," Whittingham recalled in an interview with the Sunday Observer.
"I felt helpless, but I was determined not to become a victim, and I knew that there was a better way... I would love to share my experiences with some of the gangsters of today," Whittingham said.
Towering above six feet tall, very articulate and clearly knowledgeable about effective strategies to combat gang crimes, 57-year-old Whittingham was in Jamaica recently to bury his mother who passed away on January 14. But he used the occasion to drop in on Police Commissioner Owen Ellington, for whom, he said, he has developed tremendous respect.
Whittingham said he owed everything he has achieved to the foundation laid by the JCF, and he would like nothing better than an opportunity to give back. Although he did not go into details about his discussions with Commissioner Ellington, Whittingham indicated that he shared his experience as a gang expert with the top cop, and expressed his willingness to be a part of the commissioner's team to reduce gang violence in Jamaica.
"From my long years of battling gangs in LA, I have learnt, as my chief of police says, that you simply cannot arrest your way out of gang violence," said Whittingham.
"As the officer in charge of a gang unit in what was one of the most violent areas in Los Angeles (South west Area), I had to find creative but effective ways to fight the gang problem.
"While we employed aggressive enforcement strategies that were designed to suppress gang violence and apprehend gang members, it was only after we took a multi- faceted approach... combining proactive/preventative measures with intervention, and building collaborative partnership with all the stakeholders (including gang members)... It was only after we brought all these pieces together that we saw our best and sustaining results."
Whittingham acknowledged that there are different factors affecting the environment, mindset, and social needs of the Jamaican youth... But he insisted that the formula, when properly applied (with support from the community and the political establishment), will bring about similar results.
"As a police officer, I am a natural crime fighter. But I bring something else to the table — the experiences of my past in Canterbury.
"I am able to look at the causation factors behind the formation of gangs and to feel the emotions of seeing that the violence is still affecting my neighbourhood, 37 years later. In fact, I recently lost a nephew to gang violence in Montego Bay, two days before the death of my mother, so it hits very close to home," he said.
Whittingham said he was the first to bring former gang members and representatives of the 23 most active gangs in Southwest (LA) face to face with all his officers "to vent, shout at each other, and then to talk with each other... that set the tone and laid the foundation for a respectful relationship to develop, opening a wider door for dealing with our gang problem".
"After that, respect started to develop. Then trust started to develop. And soon, those gang members who wanted to live a different life were offered the opportunity to do so," commented Whittingham.
He said all this took place in an area where five of the top-10 gangs in Los Angeles were based. "...And for the first time in several years, the crime rate dropped by 27 per cent in the division."
Although he acknowledged that the number was slowly going down, he noted that the murder rate in Jamaica was far too high, comparing the population of 4.5 million people in Los Angeles with the 2.7 million people in Jamaica.
"When I heard that we had 30 murders in the first nine days of the New Year, I couldn't help but cry inside. Last year there were just over 1,100 murders here in Jamaica. If we have 300 homicides in LA, it becomes a major outcry. I know we can't be soft on crime, but I believe there is a way to reach many gang members... to find alternative ways to settle their differences.
"Many of the guys killed were gangsters, but I am sure that they left behind children, spouses, parents, sisters, brothers. To me, it is a life lost, not just a gang member... In many cases, it might have even been a young man who could have grown up to become a police captain in Los Angeles.
"When you approach it that way, you see the wisdom of employing proactive, preventative strategies, and a by-product of this approach and sensitivity is more cooperation from the families and the community at large," he added.
Captain Whittingham suggested that Jamaican political parties should decisively cut their ties with criminal gangs and to work with former gang members to develop job skills so that they can play a more productive role in society.
"Our political leaders must make a commitment to change the environment that appears receptive to gang activities. Additionally, we need to revitalise the communities that have become breeding grounds for gangs... For example; nothing has changed in Canterbury since I left there to join the JCF in 1974. With little or no emphasis on sustained community development, the gangs will always be replenished," he said.
Whittingham was an immigration officer when he migrated in 1983 and was shortly after hired by the University of Southern California (USC) campus police department. After graduating from the LAPD Academy, having joined the department in 1988, he continued his formal education at The University of La Verne, California, where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Public Administration.
He is a graduate of the LAPD West Point Leadership Programme and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Academy.
He rapidly moved up the ranks from his first field assignment in the Wilshire Area to the rank of sergeant in October 1991; detective in March 1994 assigned to North Hollywood Detective Division; Sergeant II in October 1995 assigned to Internal Affairs Group; lieutenant in March 1999 assigned to Pacific Area as a watch commander; Administrative Lieutenant assigned to Southwest Area as the officer in charge of the Southwest Area Gang Impact Team in July 2003.
Whittingham was transferred to the Pacific Area as the assistant commanding officer, Los Angeles International Airport, LAX Field Services Division, and made captain on May 10, 2009, and assigned as the commanding officer, Hollywood Patrol Division.
He has kept in touch with several past police commissioners and remains a member of the Ex-Police Immigration Officers Association of Jamaica (headquarters in New York).
Captain Whittingham currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Belinda, and his two younger children, Sophia and Victoria. He also has four other grown children: Pedro, Ladonna, Damion, and Randy who is a student in Arizona State University.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1mqLqXwhy
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