Police continue to be plagued by increased levels of violent crimes as reflected in newly released statistics by the authorities.
Those statistics indicate that from January to April of 2005 there were 583 cases of violent crimes brought before the courts compared to 414 during the same period last year.
Authorities say violent crimes are senseless acts of aggression perpetrated against individuals or properties. They include assault, causing harm, assault with a deadly weapon, manslaughter, and murder.
But psychiatrist, Dr. David Allen, who also heads the Urban Renewal Programme, believes that “soul-lessness” and inward emigration are also forms of violent behaviors often overlooked by society.
“In our little small country we are so consumer-oriented, so busy that soul-lessness is developing as we pass our families and neighbors by and don’t connect,” he said. “As a result that is violent because nobody is an island unto themselves. I need you as you need me.
“Inward emigration means then that you can live in Nassau, make money, have a good investment, have a nice life, but not even be touched by the pathos and pain of so many brothers and sisters who cannot make it. I am saying that to live in this country like that whether you are a resident, or foreign, that is violent.”
The headlines of local newspapers are constantly marred by a variety of violent crimes from stabbings to shootings.
This according to Dr. Allen can also foster aggressive behaviors, as some who are a part of the younger generation tend to imitate what they see on television and listen to on radio.
“Violence in some cases is usually mimicked so the more it happens in the papers and on TV, the more it will happen on our streets,” he said.
A recent case of violent crimes in the headlines involved the shooting of a 16-year-old girl in a home invasion.
According to the police, the incident happened in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday morning when two masked gunmen kicked their way into the Prison Lane home of Calvonya Grant where she resided with her grandmother.
Authorities said that she tried to escape but was shot execution-style by the two men.
According to Dr. Allen, too much concentration is placed on the actual act of stabbing or shooting instead of appropriately dealing with the events leading up to the act.
“What worries me is that since the beginning of the year there have been a number of black men who have been stabbed, and some killed and there was no public outcry,” he said.
“There are stabbings every day – that is the attitude that we now have, it’s like we are becoming adapted. We must realize that someone does not come up to you and just stab you or shot you. There is normally an argument or a fight leading up to that event. But we want to call the police after the action; this does not help with prevention.”
By: Perez Clarke, The Bahama Journal
