Above: downtown Nassau (CJ Photo)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

More than 40 police officers have been undertaking “direct community policing” in New Providence as part of what the Bahamian government is dubbing “Urban Renewal 2.0.”

The series of initiatives is what Deputy Prime Minister Philip Davis is calling a “serious rescue mission” as the Bahamas ramps up its fight against crime.

“This is our opportunity to craft successful, safe and secure communities out of presently distressed and severely challenged communities,” Davis said during his contribution to the budget debate this week. “We believe that we need to know exactly what we are faced with, so we can speedily respond with action that represents more of a ‘hand up’ than a ‘hand out.'”

Urban Renewal 2.0 is the continuation of a programme first pioneered by the Progressive Liberal Party during its previous term in government.

The new programme will be managed on a day-to-day basis by a director that would be appointed “soon,” according to Davis.

That director will report to the Bahamas’ Ministry of Works and Urban Development, working alongside senior officers from a number of social ministries.

The new initiatives were a major priority of the PLP following its return to power in the country’s May 7 election.

“It is a mission which we cannot fail in,” he said. “To fail is to abandon citizens to hopelessness — we cannot do this to our brothers and sisters.”