Partnerships have been a key feature of ICMA’s international technical assistance programs for many years. Most recently, ICMA facilitated a partnership between Pinellas County, Florida, and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and officials from two Panamanian cities for a week-long exchange of ideas and practices centered on crime prevention and community policing actiivities.

The visit was arranged by ICMA’s Municipal Partnerships for Violence Prevention (AMUPREV) program. This program, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), seeks to help municipalities in Central American countries adapt approaches to community-oriented governance and policing that have worked in the U.S. and other countries.

Eight participants (mayors, council representatives, local government department directors, and police sub-commissioners) from Colón and San Miguelito, Panama, along with ICMA’s National Crime Prevention Coordinator, heard presentations and participated in discussions on a wide range of topics of mutual interest:

• Methods of collecting, analyzing, and sharing data that can help the jurisdiction address crime, social concerns, and other community problems
• Administration of crime-prevention and detection programs and collaboration across departments and institutions
• Narcotics bureau operations and drug interdiction programs
• Application of community policing philosophy and techniques to local and neighborhood-based needs
• Programs to prevent crime and social violence, and to promote re-entry of ex-offenders into society, including strategies for building community and private-sector support
• Youth and children’s programs, including the juvenile justice system and interventions to provide education and skills to young people to divert them from engaging in gang-related and criminal activity.

The agenda included site visits to the county drug court, a family center, the Police Athletic League (PAL) sports complex, and other sites related to community policing and crime prevention initiatives.

Participants anticipate an ongoing cooperative relationship that will be guided by a jointly developed work plan. The plan will include at least four visits by officials and staff of Pinellas County and the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office to Panama. All parties signed a memorandum of understanding during the visit to formalize their commitment.

ICMA’s AMUPREV program, which began in October 2009 and continues through September 2012, has two primary objectives:

• To promote comprehensive local-level violence prevention strategies and programs with key Central American stakeholders and foster development of regional peer knowledge networks that will be sustainable in the future
• To provide training and technical assistance to local governments and community groups in coordination with national police efforts and other local-level programs. 

After the visit to Pinellas County, local authorities from San Miguelito and Colón decided to create a Municipal Crime Prevention Committee in each community, with participation by local staff, national police, civil society, churches, NGOs, the private sector, and other national institutions/secretariats, to coordinate activities to prevent violence and crime.    

To learn more about ICMA’s international programs, visit the website or e-mail international@icma.org.