We are convinced that in The Bahamas, crime matters now. The sad situation that we are observing is that when they are not hurting directly; they are enmeshed in the coils of fear. In the meanwhile, the police seem to be in gross denial of what is a reality for far too many decent, law-abiding citizens.
There is an abundance of evidence to suggest that some of this nation’s most upstanding citizens are at their wit’s end concerning what they say is a menace to them. Some of them say that they know of situations where home invasions have taken place and situations where girls and women have been assaulted. A small number of them have been raped.
On top of this, we are hearing of cases where people have been robbed at gun-point while trying to enter their own homes. Scores of other Bahamians are being traumatized as they try to fathom what is happening to their neighbours, family and friends.
We are also observing that the extent to which The Bahamas is a dangerously troubled place is kept safe from the prying attention of outsiders. This is due in great measure to the fact that visitors to The Bahamas -in the main- are kept far from the hot spots. But not so the rest of the population that must dance to the tune of the rapist; or turn his valuables over to the thug with the gun.
If these outrages were not bad enough, the people are some times ripped off by smooth-talking gangsters in suits; working out of suites and who are sometimes even more destructive than their less educated kith and kin in the world of crime.
These matters are well-known in the community. Sadly, however, some of the information that is germane to the incidence and impact of crime is routinely suppressed.
But while the authorities might be in near-total denial about the extent to which crime has taken root in The Bahamas , the same conclusion can not be imputed to prime minister the Rt. Hon. Perry G. Christie, his deputy, the Hon. Cynthia “Mother” Pratt or any of their colleagues ‘around the table’. They all know that the crime problem is one of their administration’s major challenges.
As the prime minister has noted: “The level of violent crime in our society is simply unacceptable. The level of viciousness in the commission of murders and rapes and robberies in our society is simply intolerable. There is no other way to put it.”
Prime Minister Christie is absolutely correct. We agree with him when he says that the level of violent crime in our society is simply unacceptable.
As for the police, all we can say about them and what they are doing is that despite their best efforts to put the best face on what is happening on the crime front; the Commissioner of Police and his fine officers must know by now that there are very many Bahamians who are convinced that crime is spiraling out of control.
Never one to mince his words, the prime minister has declaimed with this advice, “But let us not point the finger of blame only at the judicial system. The responsibility for curbing criminality does not only rest with the police and the courts. It also rests with us as citizens.”
He went on to implore, “Mothers, stop protecting your criminal children! If you know they are supporting themselves by robbing or dealing in drugs, persuade them to stop and if that doesn’t work, turn them in!
“Neighbours, if you know the person next door is dealing in drugs or is robbing people for a living or is showing off an unlicensed firearm, call the police! Man in the street, if you see someone fleeing from the scene of his crime and you know where he went, call the Police tip line!”
His conclusion is to the effect that, “we are all in this war on crime together and we have to present a united front against all the forces of criminality in our midst. Together, we can beat this beast and restore sanity and peace.”
We are approaching the challenge on several fronts. No strategy for crime prevention is going to be effective unless we go to the source, to the underlying social conditions that breed criminality.
We agree with the prime minister. The only problem remaining is for him to recognize that if anything is to be done; it should be done now.
Editorial from The Bahama Journal
