Bahamian society must make a decision on crime
tribune242 editorial
THE hard working police force are today in the unenviable position of being "damned if you do, and damned if you don't."
The public wants the criminal removed from the streets. However, when he is removed, the next word the police have is that he's out on bail, up to more mischief, and the chase starts all over again. The public wants guns removed from society, yet society wants selective justice applied to those who are caught with an unlicensed firearm. On the other hand, the police want tougher sentences. For example, in England possession of an unlicensed firearm could mean five years in prison.
Police know that firearms are brought in on boats, even pleasure craft. "However, when we go to search these boats, we are accused of harassing boaters," said one officer, "so we back off, but we know that there are guns aboard those boats."
In other words society can't have its cake and eat it too. If they want the country cleared of illegal guns, the police will have to be free to search, and the courts should be obliged to prosecute.
For example, the police were criticised for the precautions they took to protect the House, the Prime Minister, MPs and members of the public during the recent Bay Street demonstrations against the sale of BTC to Cable & Wireless. They were condemned for bringing the dogs out "against the people." However, if something had gone wrong they would have been criticised -- and investigated -- for not having taken every possible precaution to anticipate an emergency.
A spokesperson for the various groups said that the objective was to stage a peaceful demonstration, however, some protesters were in a "militant" mood. And it was that mood -- with threats of creating a "small Egypt" -- that made the police prepare for the worst.
Despite the unions' attempts to insist that it was a union demonstration, the unions' presence was obliterated by political activists. However, Fox Hill MP Fred Mitchell made no bones about what the demonstration was all about. The fight to have BTC remain in Bahamian hands is a political one, he said, and all who oppose the sale of the company to Cable and Wireless should band together.
Senator Dion Foulkes, speaking in the Senate, said that several "PLP MPs, ratified candidate and senior party officers were active in that demonstration which became extremely unruly and if it were not for the fine men and women of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, Bahamians could have been hurt, indeed, one person was hurt: Mr Capron, who later publicly thanked the police for coming to his aid."
Mr Foulkes identified "Melanie Griffin, Bernard Nottage, Ryan Pinder, Alfred Gray, Obie Wilchcombe and Barbara Pierre, Secretary General of the PLP and former PLP Chairman Minky Isaacs" as among those at the rally.
"Shane Gibson," he said, "who the night before the demonstration was seen all over the southwest of New Providence on the back of a truck with a blow horn telling people to come to Bay Street.
"I suspect that they have distanced themselves from this demonstration because it was a total and absolute flop," said the senator.
Mr Mitchell also criticised government for "attacking" union leaders at that demonstration, who, he said, are "simply acting in the best interests of their members."
Mr Mitchell conveniently forgets the three-week teachers strike of 1981 -- under the Pindling government -- when teachers were also trying to improve the conditions in the schools and raise the standard of the teaching profession. Not only were the police and the dogs brought out against the teachers, but there were snipers on the various roof tops with a fire engine standing by, possibly to use the water hoses in case of an emergency. Several teachers were arrested. Opposition Leader Norman Solomon told members in the House on January 7, 1981 that the reason they were discussing the teachers' strike in the House that day was because it was facing a "certain amount of insurrection" below in the public square. He blamed it on "14 years of continuous mismanagement of the economy."
"Those were the days," said a teacher who had participated in the strike, "when professionals of similar qualifications in the civil service were making 30 per cent more than their counterparts in the teaching profession."
The former teacher said that when the teachers decided to strike in 1981 they did so for what they believed in, fully realising the consequences of their actions. Their pay was docked for the full three weeks of the strike. They did not complain, because when they decided to strike they knew that it meant loss of pay.
Today the BTC unions withdrew their labour, fully knowing the consequences, but not expecting government to take any action against them. The teacher failed to understand their reasoning or why they should condemn government for enforcing the rules. They withdrew their labour. If they were sincere in their protest, they should have expected not to have been paid.
It is the same with the police. Bahamians want society to be crime free, but they do not want to suffer the consequences of having a family member, who is causing some of the problems, suffer the consequences. It is now up to Bahamians to decide what they really want.
They cannot have a crime free society while harbouring the criminal in the bosom of the family. The Tribune has great respect for those families who take one of their own to the police station to "turn him in." Those are the families who are the Bahamas' solid citizens - it is a pity that there are not more like them. It is only then that the Bahamas will have any hope of reducing its crime rate.
April 12, 2011
tribune242 editorial
A political blog about Bahamian politics in The Bahamas, Bahamian Politicans - and the entire Bahamas political lot. Bahamian Blogger Dennis Dames keeps you updated on the political news and views throughout the islands of The Bahamas without fear or favor. Bahamian Politicians and the Bahamian Political Arena: Updates one Post at a time on Bahamas Politics and Bahamas Politicans; and their local, regional and international policies and perspectives.
