The Government does plenty for Laventille. People have Cepep, houses, water, cable, sports facilities, trade workshops, music, cookery classes, Best Village. Vanity has them shooting. The boys want a car with big music, big guns, bling.

—Laventille resident.

If it’s a war of guns, the police will lose. Lack of amenities isn’t the problem. Nor is the absence of jobs. It’s about upward mobility. Money.

Author of Freakoconomics, Stephen Levitt has analysed the economics of a cocaine-selling street gang in Chicago. Stephen Levitt believes any street gang operates like a franchise of McDonald’s or KFC. The hierarchy is flat. At the top is the local gang leader. Below him, three people: the accountant, the adviser and an enforcer/“human relations” man.

Read Full Column