Bahamians who live in Black Village and Bain Town are today being terrified by thugs in their midst. Some of these criminals are armed to the teeth.
We are told that some of them who cannot afford guns are availing and girding themselves for battles ahead. Some are equipping themselves with machetes. Others are searching for switch blade knives and other sharp-edged instruments.
This is all so sad.
We are today convinced that the situation in Bain Town and Black Village is but the festering tip of that larger problem that comes with the types of crimes that are being allowed to happen in places such as these.
A little while ago, the crime scene was to be located in Nassau Village.
On another occasion, mayhem, violence and sudden death came to Pinewood Gardens.
And then there was that time when violence and riot came to the St. James Road area in the eastern district of New Providence Island.
And as if to underscore the point that the tentacles of crime reach deep, we are hearing say of the extent to which one community after the other on Grand Bahama is being devastated by crimes committed by young thugs and other social deviants.
Some of these criminals are today emboldened. This is so because some of them have been able to get away with some of the crimes they routinely commit.
This is wrong. This is disgraceful. And this should be stopped.
Indeed, we too remember that there was a time in The Bahamas when the community itself could be revolted and when families could be shamed by the errant antics of one of its members. Alas! Those days are gone; and for the most part, those days have been forgotten.
Every where we go in The Bahamas we are hearing complaint and cry about crime is tearing apart one community after the other. We are hearing this complaint as it comes in from Freeport, Grand Bahama.
Today we are hearing the same kind of troubled litany of woe as it comes in from Black Village and Bain Town.
If reports are to be believed, there are today any number of armed and dangerous young black men who are intent on waging war on each other. We are also hearing talk about how some of these young thugs are armed with sub-machine guns and other lethal fire power.
We are also hearing talk about a tit-for-tat war that has already broken out in those two communities. One man is already dead ﾖgunned down, we are told, in broad daylight.
Another man- allegedly the gun man – is today whiling away some time in the protective custody of the state. What is even more troubling is the allegation that his vengeance driven enemies are today planning more action, whatever that means in todayﾒs Bahamas.
What is as troubling to us and any number of right-thinking Bahamians is the fact that the police seem impotent in the face of what is clearly a massive social disaster.
As we revert to the matter involving Black Village and Bain Town, pray tell why the police should not be empowered to go into these places, round up the men and women who are conspiring to break the law and otherwise shred one community after the other of its peace and tranquility.
That same public wants to know how it can be that a police force that claims to be “intelligence driven” seems to have been put in a position where it can and does only ‘re-act’ once some crime or the other is committed.
What we are suggesting is that since many of the crimes that are committed sometimes involve the assistance of other confederates in crime, we wonder whether the time has come for the police to avail themselves of a deeper and more complete understanding of the law as it relates to conspiracy.
Our surmise is that if the police were savvy enough to move in this direction, they may be in a position to nip more crimes in the bud. And most assuredly, were more people to be charged with crimes that search for those who aid and abet, more criminals might yet be brought to heel.
In the event that little or nothing is done to deal with this clear and present danger, we fear the worst, which is that crime may spiral out of control. And let there be no mistake about the matter at hand, crime will be out of control when thugs and other social deviants are allowed to run amok.
Some of this is already happening in Black Village and in Bain Town.
Source: The Bahama Journal
