Washington, DC Gets a Taste of Haitian “Law Enforcement”

IF YOUR streets are getting overrun with violent crime it’s fair to say that Haiti wouldn’t be the first place you’d look to for a solution, that benighted country being the poster child for violence and corruption. Then again maybe such an unconventional source could provide some unconventional thinking, some out-of-left-field solution to the apparently insoluble. Enter Karl Anthony Racine, the Haitian Attorney General of the District of Columbia. And not just that — he’s also the President of the National Association Of Attorneys General, where he intends to “focus on hate and extremism.”

So what’s his innovative solution (and it is innovative, we must give him that) to the pandemic of violent crime which certain DC neighbourhoods (can’t imagine what they all have in common) are forced to ‘endure’? His idea is to appoint “Violence Interrupters” whose job is to “engage with the community to learn about brewing conflicts and resolve them peaceably before they erupt in violence. Violence Interrupters also identify and treat individuals at high risk of involvement with violence by meeting with them and implementing individualized risk reduction plans. They also help connect participants with needed services, such as housing, counseling and employment assistance, and develop action plans for a positive future.” And apparently they’ll “mobilize communities to change norms by engaging residents, local businesses, community leaders and faith leaders to work with high-risk individuals to reduce violence.”

So where would they source these Gandhi-like paragons? Would they be graduates of Harvard’s conflict resolution program? And if so would they be carefully vetted for the delicate skills required, such as emotional intelligence, empathy, impartiality, honesty, level-headedness, sublime negotiation skills, and a squeaky-clean track record?

As you could imagine with a Haitian imposing “law and order,” these qualifications were somewhat relaxed. They were certainly relaxed for Corey Wynn, who was not only employed but made supervisor over a team of six other Violence Interrupters. Unfortunately neither Corey nor the overall violence interruption project have worked out too well, with murders skyrocketing since the project rolled out. And Corey himself, despite being described by Racine as “a dedicated respected professional, a loving father, a devoted friend, and a pillar of the community,” far from interrupting the violence actually got in on the act himself by gunning down some unfortunate citizen early this month. He’s now locked up and charged with murder.

Racine might have thought him to be a model citizen – and maybe by Haitian standards he is – but Wynn in fact, even prior to his latest lapse had a long rap sheet serving ten years for, inter alia, murder and pushing crack cocaine. Not the kind of person who’d instantly spring to mind were I asked to identify the ideal Violence Interrupter.

Well we might laugh at and mock such bizarre antics. But in reality the laugh is on us, Americans in this instance. When an escapee from the worst country in the Western Hemisphere is given responsibility for law and order in your capital city, and then appoints drug-dealing murderers as agents of law enforcement while you work all day long to pay for it — then indeed the laugh is on you.

But just wait till Joe and the Ho get installed….

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Source: The Irish Savant