The Foreign Service Journal, October 2018

28 OCTOBER 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL co-implementing programs (not just “coordinating”); and (3), the police and community taking co-responsibility for security in these most violent areas. James Watson, USAID director in Honduras during the first years of PBS, said that it’s essential for law enforcement to understand and value the softer programs like education, counseling and community centers, and that it’s equally important that civil society and the community under- stand that PBS won’t work without a strong community policing presence. Local leaders, not embassy officers, are the key drivers of change. It probably sounds easy and certainly sounds like com- mon sense. But, in fact, this approach was new, different, radical … and successful. How Successful Is It? PBS is designed specifically to reduce violence in the most violent communities. Has it done that? Let’s look at the three pilot communities—all in San Pedro Sula, where PBS was first implemented in 2014. In Chamelecón, there were 287 homicides in 2014 and 43 in 2017. In Satelite, there were 370 homicides in 2014 and 133 in 2017. And in Rivera Hernandez there were 330 homicides in 2014 and 119 in 2017. Let’s compare those dramatic numbers to other extremely violent communities in Honduras. In La Lima, where INL runs programs but USAID does not, there were 99 murders in 2014 and 73 in 2017. In Choloma, where USAID manages programs but INL can’t because of police vetting issues, there were 194 homicides in 2014 and 216 in 2017. Clearly, the PBS can play a dramatic role in reducing violence. Sustainability is, of course, crucial to the long-term success of PBS. As the Honduran government and other communi- ties across Honduras saw the success of PBS, they clamored to adopt the model elsewhere. As the newer neighborhoods adopt and adapt the successful model of the three pilot communities, USAID and INL can gradually reduce their roles. Members of the Honduran National Police now learn the community policing model at the academy, not from U.S. trainers. Local ownership of PBS was and remains the goal. n