Assistant Commissioner of Police Glenmore Hinds has hailed the Jamaican Church as an active ally in the war on crime.

While he said the contribution was not coordinated under a single umbrella, various church groups have been working behind the scenes and are making their presence felt on the ground.

The senior cop's pronouncements contradict criticism from detractors who often claim the Church is doing little to nothing to stem crime and violence.

"It would be incorrect to say the Church isn't doing anything," Hinds said.

He pointed out that several anti-crime measures led by prominent men of the cloth have helped to staunch bloodshed across the island.

"I know that there are many interventions that are led by prominent churchmen (and) they are having some impact on gang activity and crime in general," he said.

Gang-related crimes

Forty-four per cent of the murders committed last year were gang-related. According to police statistics, of the 1,611 murders committed in 2008, 718 were categorised as gang-related.

There were 1,583 recorded murders in 2007.

In March 2005, national security officials held closed-door meetings with church leaders to solicit their assistance in curbing the murderous impulse in the society. A delegation of government officials and high-ranking police officers facilitated those talks with the clergy.

The Reverend Merrick 'Al' Miller's National Transformation Programme, the Peace Management Initiative, led by Bishop Herro Blair, and the Crime Prevention Com-mittee, chaired by Monsignor Richard Albert, were a few of the groups lauded by the senior officer.

Evangelistic efforts

In addition to the social outreach programmes being led by prominent church figures, Hinds said evan-gelistic efforts such as street services, conventions and house-to-house visitations are also helping the cause.

"Whether or not more can be done I am not in a position to say, but I do know that they are involved."

He added: "In St Catherine North, Spanish Town, there is a ministers' grouping led by Monsignor Richard Albert that has been involved in a significant way in terms of anti-crime activity."

However, Miller, director of the National Transformation Programme and pastor of Fellowship Tabernacle, said the Church could do much more. "What many churches lack, like most NGOs, is the resource to do more," he said.

tyrone.reid@gleanerjm.com