Chief Superintendent Hulan Hanna explained that increasing incidents of crime have a lot to do with a serious lapse in people’s communication skills. He added that Bahamians must learn to work problems out with each other verbally instead of physically.
“In The Bahamas we need now to see a change in the attitudes of our people, our people on the streets and our people in the community who are involved in conflicts. We need to learn how to deal with conflicts differently,” said Mr Hanna. “People need to realise that you don’t take a gun with you to resolve an issue. You must learn how to talk and reason. You don’t use an instrument to harm someone.” Mr Hanna told the Guardian at the recent commissioning of a new $200,000 mobile Crime Scene Unit, that the Royal Bahamas Police Force is incorporating the state-of-the-art equipment into its crime fighting tactics. He said the Unit will beef up the science and technology of law enforcement.
Hence he believes the money invested in the new vehicle is miniscule compared to the service the police force will get from it. “Policing now has to move from just muscle and guts. Policing now has to use science and technology. We have to use the grey matter because crime is becoming more complicated. The courts are placing higher and greater demands on us,” said Mr Hanna. “We can’t just walk into the courts anymore and say that we have a signed confession statement. This crime scene unit will aid in giving us the type of evidence we need, because the court wants corroborating evidence to put suspects at the scene of a crime.”
However, he warned that if Bahamians do not learn how to change their approach when it comes to solving disputes, the true value of new state-of-the-art equipment will not be seen.
“Until the attitudes and the mindset of our people have changed, then we can have all of these new crime fighting materials.”
By: LaShonne Outten, The Nassau Guardian
