Inner-city J'can youth now captain in world-famous LAPD

BY DESMOND ALLEN Executive Editor — Operations allend@jamaicaobserver.com

Sunday, February 19, 2012

IN his early teens, Peter Whittingham had an unmistakable choice — succumb to the mind-bending pressures of the sprawling slums of Canterbury, St James, or rise above its desperate poverty, senseless violence and wanton waste of often promising young lives.

Today, as a highly regarded police professional, captain of police and expert in anti-gang enforcement strategies in the world-famous Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), Whittingham can celebrate the choice he made to become a career police officer, first in Jamaica and then in the United States of America.

And it is no surprise that the brutal violence of gang-war in and around the Canterbury of his childhood — from the late 1960s to early 1970s — has become his purpose and passion, and the reason he is reaching out to help in the effort to rid the streets of gang violence that is ruining the reputation of his island home that he loves so dearly.

"Canterbury was one of the most gang-infested areas in Jamaica. As a youngster, I witnessed first-hand the violence of those gang wars that ruined the lives of many of my childhood friends in communities such as Gully, Glendevon, Railway Lane, Salem, among others," Whittingham recalled in an interview with the Sunday Observer.

"I felt helpless, but I was determined not to become a victim, and I knew that there was a better way... I would love to share my experiences with some of the gangsters of today," Whittingham said.

Towering above six feet tall, very articulate and clearly knowledgeable about effective strategies to combat gang crimes, 57-year-old Whittingham was in Jamaica recently to bury his mother who passed away on January 14. But he used the occasion to drop in on Police Commissioner Owen Ellington, for whom, he said, he has developed tremendous respect.

Whittingham said he owed everything he has achieved to the foundation laid by the JCF, and he would like nothing better than an opportunity to give back. Although he did not go into details about his discussions with Commissioner Ellington, Whittingham indicated that he shared his experience as a gang expert with the top cop, and expressed his willingness to be a part of the commissioner's team to reduce gang violence in Jamaica.

"From my long years of battling gangs in LA, I have learnt, as my chief of police says, that you simply cannot arrest your way out of gang violence," said Whittingham.

"As the officer in charge of a gang unit in what was one of the most violent areas in Los Angeles (South west Area), I had to find creative but effective ways to fight the gang problem.

"While we employed aggressive enforcement strategies that were designed to suppress gang violence and apprehend gang members, it was only after we took a multi- faceted approach... combining proactive/preventative measures with intervention, and building collaborative partnership with all the stakeholders (including gang members)... It was only after we brought all these pieces together that we saw our best and sustaining results."

Whittingham acknowledged that there are different factors affecting the environment, mindset, and social needs of the Jamaican youth... But he insisted that the formula, when properly applied (with support from the community and the political establishment), will bring about similar results.

"As a police officer, I am a natural crime fighter. But I bring something else to the table — the experiences of my past in Canterbury.

"I am able to look at the causation factors behind the formation of gangs and to feel the emotions of seeing that the violence is still affecting my neighbourhood, 37 years later. In fact, I recently lost a nephew to gang violence in Montego Bay, two days before the death of my mother, so it hits very close to home," he said.

Whittingham said he was the first to bring former gang members and representatives of the 23 most active gangs in Southwest (LA) face to face with all his officers "to vent, shout at each other, and then to talk with each other... that set the tone and laid the foundation for a respectful relationship to develop, opening a wider door for dealing with our gang problem".

"After that, respect started to develop. Then trust started to develop. And soon, those gang members who wanted to live a different life were offered the opportunity to do so," commented Whittingham.

He said all this took place in an area where five of the top-10 gangs in Los Angeles were based. "...And for the first time in several years, the crime rate dropped by 27 per cent in the division."

Although he acknowledged that the number was slowly going down, he noted that the murder rate in Jamaica was far too high, comparing the population of 4.5 million people in Los Angeles with the 2.7 million people in Jamaica.

"When I heard that we had 30 murders in the first nine days of the New Year, I couldn't help but cry inside. Last year there were just over 1,100 murders here in Jamaica. If we have 300 homicides in LA, it becomes a major outcry. I know we can't be soft on crime, but I believe there is a way to reach many gang members... to find alternative ways to settle their differences.

"Many of the guys killed were gangsters, but I am sure that they left behind children, spouses, parents, sisters, brothers. To me, it is a life lost, not just a gang member... In many cases, it might have even been a young man who could have grown up to become a police captain in Los Angeles.

"When you approach it that way, you see the wisdom of employing proactive, preventative strategies, and a by-product of this approach and sensitivity is more cooperation from the families and the community at large," he added.

Captain Whittingham suggested that Jamaican political parties should decisively cut their ties with criminal gangs and to work with former gang members to develop job skills so that they can play a more productive role in society.

"Our political leaders must make a commitment to change the environment that appears receptive to gang activities. Additionally, we need to revitalise the communities that have become breeding grounds for gangs... For example; nothing has changed in Canterbury since I left there to join the JCF in 1974. With little or no emphasis on sustained community development, the gangs will always be replenished," he said.

Whittingham was an immigration officer when he migrated in 1983 and was shortly after hired by the University of Southern California (USC) campus police department. After graduating from the LAPD Academy, having joined the department in 1988, he continued his formal education at The University of La Verne, California, where he graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Public Administration.

He is a graduate of the LAPD West Point Leadership Programme and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Academy.

He rapidly moved up the ranks from his first field assignment in the Wilshire Area to the rank of sergeant in October 1991; detective in March 1994 assigned to North Hollywood Detective Division; Sergeant II in October 1995 assigned to Internal Affairs Group; lieutenant in March 1999 assigned to Pacific Area as a watch commander; Administrative Lieutenant assigned to Southwest Area as the officer in charge of the Southwest Area Gang Impact Team in July 2003.

Whittingham was transferred to the Pacific Area as the assistant commanding officer, Los Angeles International Airport, LAX Field Services Division, and made captain on May 10, 2009, and assigned as the commanding officer, Hollywood Patrol Division.

He has kept in touch with several past police commissioners and remains a member of the Ex-Police Immigration Officers Association of Jamaica (headquarters in New York).

Captain Whittingham currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Belinda, and his two younger children, Sophia and Victoria. He also has four other grown children: Pedro, Ladonna, Damion, and Randy who is a student in Arizona State University.

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COMMENTS (11)

Justin Wright
2/20/2012

Nicholas Henry is not only a JLP supporter, he can only sees green in each statement he belches up. Stop this rambling of self hate and be more constructive in your limited approach. This man got his training from the JCF he used it to combat gangs, gangs are killings us here in Jamaica, if he did not have those Jamaican learned approach he would not be in a position to lead, so Jamaica has now become a university of crimes and LA is benefiting from his experience. Keep up your head. Good luck.

Anthony Johnson
2/20/2012

@Jus Irie, whats so wrong about what Nicolas Henry said. In fact what he says has a lot of logic to it, so you stay there and keep dreaming about Whittingham coming there to help solve your problems. What happen to all the people who have achieved all the success in Jamaica? You really think Nicholas has a low self esteem and self hatred? Well as Mutty Perkins would say I think your penis is bigger than your brain

Jus Irie
2/19/2012

Nicholas Henry, why do you hate Jamaica and Jamaicans? Don't bother answering that question. You Have a inflated ego born of low self-esteem and self hatred. Mr. Whittingham has used the principles he learned as a youth in JAMAICA to achieve succes in another land and those same principles would have made him a damn good cop in his homeland as well. I hope he can contribute to solving our crime problem someday soon.

Maude Cooper
2/19/2012

I am always pleased when Jamaicans anywhere show progress, in this case it would appear that 57 year old Mr. Whittingham left Jamaica approximately 30 years ago more than half his lifetime, and after serving 9 years as a cop in Jamaica. Amazing things can happen when preparation, opportunity and good timing is at play. All the best for continued success. Too many youths these days although attending school spend little time studying; putting in the work needed to prepare them for what is to come, and that is so disconcerting to me.

Nicolas Henry
2/19/2012

To all you bloggers that think this man did well becuz he's naturally good, you dead wrong. He did well, becuz he work in a country where there's law and order, & elected officials get punished for breaking the law. Had he remain in JA, he just would be another corrupt cop. Lets face it, JA is not a country that rewards for doing the right thing. The "hustling" "eat a food" mentalitity is endemic in JA, I dont know who, when or how it can be changed. What happen to Cuban Light Bulb Trial???

Chipmunk L.
2/19/2012

Good job. Always a hard and focused worker. Very goal oriented.

Justin Wright
2/19/2012

Take his advice, bring him home, make him an offer he cannot refuse. However the reality is LA budget and preventive family programs are entrenched and funded well. Jamaica will need the help of the political idiots? No way cut it out, buldozed those areas, scatter all that is joined. Reclaimed the land.

Gee Scott
2/19/2012

Captain Whittingham seems to hold the credentials we so badly need to lead the crime fighting decision in Jamaica. For what these politicians earn, I am sure they can afford to pay him.
Otherwise well done on your achievements Mr. Whittingham. Continue to shine and represent.

stanley buffett
2/19/2012

WOW WHAT A STORY, IS NOT WHERE YOU ARE COMMING FROM IS WHERE YOU ARE GOING ALL YOU NED IS AMBITION I HOPE THE TOP COP IN JAMAICA TAKE A LOOK AT THIS ARTICLE SEE WHAT THEY CAN DO WITH IT, THE PLAYING FIELD ARE DIFFERENT THE JAMAICAN COP ARE NOT COMPENSATED AS MR WHITTINGHAM SO IT WONT BE THAT EASY FOR THE TOP COPS IN JA TO GET GANGSTERS TO TALK TO EACHOTHER MOST GANG MEMBERS IN LA CAN READ AND WRITE IN JA MOST ARE NOT JUST KILL AND BE KILLED

Jay Brown
2/19/2012

The way I see crime in Jamaica, is there is NO POLITICAL will to deal decisively with this epidemic.
For years we have spoken about CCTV for the major cities, which have proven to be an effective means to address crime, yet 20 yrs on, we are still in the "talking" mode.
When are we going to get serious, how many more Jamaicans need to be murdered before our elected leaders believe enough is enough.
When will Jamaicans start demanding that leaders do what we wish and not the other way around?

ras london
2/19/2012

What an inspiring story. A picture would have been nice.

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Inner-city J'can youth now captain in world-famous LAPD