George Rhoden

Some of America’s top law enforcement officers will be heading to London next month in what will be an exchange of ideas to combat gangs and crime in our capital.

Police officers and board directors from the National Organisation of Black Law Enforcement (NOBLE) will meet with the London Mayor’s department to exchange ideas and discuss ways in which to reduce crime in inner cities.

The organisation’s visit will aim to share some of the services they provide, with the hope of working in partnership with UK police services and the Metropolitan Black Police Association (BPA).

Part of their intention will be to show how they create and maintain private and public community partnerships to address issues such as gang culture. As well as look at the youth programmes they initiate and how they tackle drug related offences in the community.

Detective Inspector (DI) George Rhoden, a founder and former chair of the BPA in London, is the DI for the cultural and communities resource unit for specialist crime.

He was head hunted by executives at NOBLE, last year, to lead the UK National Affairs division and is the chair for the International Advisory Council for the organisation.

Discussing the forthcoming arrival of NOBLE to the UK he said: “From this visit it will be my mission to ensure that NOBLE has a strategic platform to engage with the leaders of various agencies, to assist with strategies in reducing crime in the UK.”

While Rhoden hopes to act as a bridge in the interests of NOBLE and for UK law enforcement, he aims to continue the development of the main area of his work in youth and community programmes.

In August this year, Rhoden attended an international youth conference, organised by NOBLE, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As part of that visit youngsters from the BPA youth programme called Voyage (Voice Of the Youth And General Empowerment) were invited to join in the event attended by over 400 people which discussed youth crime and anti-social behaviour.

He believes that through conferences like this “We can look at the best way of how we can serve our communities and address issues of disproportion and inequality in the justice system”.

NOBLE was established in 1976 to tackle the crime in low income urban areas. Some of its focuses include youth, family, crime and justice.