Griffith: Gangsters as young as 11

JORDON BRIGGS

COMMISSIONER of Police Gary Griffith says the age of gang members, which at one time was in the late teens to early-twenties, is now as young as early to mid-teens.

Speaking on Wednesday at the weekly police press briefing at Police Administration Building in Port of Spain, Griffith expressed concern that younger, school-age children are deciding to join criminal gangs. He blamed the adults in the lives of these for not setting the right example.

"We do not have a youth problem in this country, we have an adult problem. There are adults who are neglecting responsibility as parents, as someone in a community, as a big brother. So they will allow the 11, 12 and 13 year-olds to be involved in gang activity because they get profit out of it.

You are basically prostituting your son for profit and then after when your son is killed you are going to hear the statement 'he was a good boy. It was just the company he was keeping'."

Griffith said data has shown that as recent as two to three years ago, the average age of gangsters in this country was late teens to early twenties. Now, however, the police have noticed that teenagers are becoming gang members.

He does not blame the youths but rather, the adults who have failed in their responsibility to impart the proper moral values and also to guide young people so they can become productive and law-abiding citizens.