All the pillars of society - the government, the opposition parties, the church, the judiciary, the security forces, the educational system, the family to name a few - must work cooperatively and congenially for the reduction of crime in our Bahamas ...The blame game is most dysfunctional and, at best, divisive...

IS THE SOLUTION TO CRIME TO CHOOSE ONE SIDE OR TO WORK TOGETHER?

By JOSEPH A WALKER
PhD, LLB (Hons) CLE



KINDLY allow me some space in your valuable column to make a few comments on the issue of crime in The Bahamas.

In recent times, it has become fashionable and convenient for those who were themselves at one point or the other, in one capacity or the other, in charge of our country to make public proclamations on the cause of crime and to point fingers at others for the same.

Nothing is wrong with this as it keeps focus on the problem but, in all of it, the proclamations appear to miss the real target. I will return to this point later.

One has heard the Leader of the Official Opposition pontificate about who is responsible for the crime wave we are experiencing and as to what he would do about it if he and his party were returned to political power.

It appears, however, that he has conveniently forgotten that he and his party had five years to deal with this said problem of crime but he and his party did little or nothing to solve the problem and they were removed leaving the problem to grow and fester.

When the crime, at the material time, touched personally, the Leader of the Official Opposition, there were many promises of what he was going to do to get to the bottom of it but, alas, nothing was done. The problem remained unabated.

The Leader of the DNA, like the Leader of the Opposition, has blamed the present government for the problem of crime going so far as to hold the Minister of National Security personally responsible for the problem, quite conveniently forgetting that he was a senior member and Cabinet Minister of the now governing party and therefore shares part of the blame.

While one acknowledges that the crime issue is one of grave concern, leaders as well as those aspiring to be political, religious and social leaders ought not to allow themselves to make pronouncements on this most serious issue based on emotions, spite, political pandering, personal, arbitrary and ascriptive criteria or on poorly understood facts or principles. To do so is to be divisive and it bodes no one well nor does it contribute to the solution of the problem which should be the aim of all those who engage in the debate on the issue.

With all the noise in the market place about crime, particularly crimes involving murder, the salient point that is being missed or ignored or not understood or factored in the analysis is that no one, not the government, not the Minister, not even the parent or spouse of the murderer can prevent a murder unless the murderer makes his intention known prior to carrying out the act.

Even so, one may articulate an intention and may not follow through on the expressed intention or follow through may be delayed.

Murder is ideally personal and, in most cases, private, even if it is committed in a public way. Some murders are spontaneous.

Thus, because murder and other violent crimes can only be prevented if one has prior knowledge of their impending incidence, it is shortsighted and, in many ways, unfair, in one's view, to hold any one personally responsible for them save the perpetrators.

It is for this reason that when the accused of a murder or other crime is convicted of his crime, not the government, the minister or his parents, is punished personally.

This is not to be construed to say crime cannot be prevented for surely certain measures can be put in place to discourage or reduce its incidence, but this will only be effective when we as a society have a clear understanding of the root causes of crime in our society.

Not the causes of crime in the US or other Caribbean territories as published in reports and textbooks, but those causes, if any, characteristic to The Bahamas.

The factors involved in causing crime are varied, multifaceted and, some cases, interrelated and, as such, any number of or any combination of them can synergise in any individual or group of individuals to result in the commission of a crime.

What we, as a society, need to do is to try through detailed and valid longitudinal scientific research, to identify, if we can, those factors, conditions, circumstances, community characteristics, family variables and even national linkages that are common among murderers and perpetrators of other violent crimes that may be trigger factors and therefore attempt to identify and develop and apply practical ameliorative strategies.

Even so, we may, at best, only make a small dent in the problem.

If we can, that would be a starting point from and on which we can build and learn. Crime is not a simple issue in any society.

There is no simple or easy solution therefore. If there were, other more developed and advanced societies would have solved it a long time ago because they have been grappling with it longer than we have.

All the pillars of society - the government, the opposition parties, the church, the judiciary, the security forces, the educational system, the family to name a few - must work cooperatively and congenially for the reduction of crime in our society. The blame game is most dysfunctional and, at best, divisive.

October 20, 2011

tribune242

Caribbean Blog International

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham: ..."government and other institutions are no substitute for personal responsibility and family life."

PM Ingraham calls for volunteers

tribune242 editorial


IN HIS address to the nation last night on crime, Prime Minister Ingraham outlined his government's plans to introduce legislation in Parliament to "further aid in the shared battle we are waging against criminality." (See story page 1).

He also pointed out that "government and other institutions are no substitute for personal responsibility and family life."

To get the whole community involved in an attempt to recapture family and social values, he announced that on November 1 a National Volunteer Register will be launched. At this time members of the community will be invited to volunteer their time to mentor young men and women, assist in community centres with after school programmes and join outreach programmes into urban neighbourhoods to encourage parental and child involvement in school activities. Also needed are volunteers to work with existing youth organisations in their programmes and many other social activities that can help change a society.

He found distressing not only the high murder count, but "what those numbers represent".

"For all of our good fortune as a country," he said, "we have in significant ways lost a sense of ourselves and of what is essential." He quoted one writer as reminding us "that 'what is essential is invisible to the eye'."

He said that Bahamians longed for something more than the outer trappings of material success. They longed for the invisible that the eye cannot see -- community and fellowship; peace and well-being.

"Remember," he said, "when the old people used to tell us that all you have is your good name and your reputation and that you don't leave this Earth with any of your worldly goods."

"Our most precious possessions," he said, "are invisible to the eye like a good conscience or the service we give with no expectation of recognition or reward.

"This crisis of culture and community manifested in an unprecedented level of criminality requires us to deal with essentials invisible to the eye like values, attitudes, social trust and mutual respect.

"We will get the crime numbers down," the Prime Minister promised. "But most crimes are symptoms, not root causes.

"Even as we relentlessly combat the criminals, provide law enforcement and the judiciary with the tools and resources they require and modernize our laws, there is something else as urgent, as essential -- it is urgent and essential that we renew, restore and replenish our sense of community choosing a culture of life over a culture given over to deadly violence."

Mr Ingraham emphasised the fact that "poverty is not an excuse for crime" -- a rack on which many Bahamians today hang their hats as they shrug off all responsibilities.

Using himself as an example of one who fought against the odds of birth and won, he said: "I too grew up poor. A two-parent family is our ideal. I am the child of a single parent and I was raised by my Grandmother.

"Many children from two-parent families get caught up in crime while many children from single-parent households are good citizens and fine young people.

"In the end," he said, "it is the quality of parenting, not the quantity that is essential.

"I grew up," he continued, "in what was then a remote part of Abaco called Cooper's Town. I came up at a time when there were few opportunities for a poor boy like me born to a single parent. The first time I met my father was when I was 11 years old.

"Even though I didn't possess material wealth, I had wealth more everlasting: Mama, who instilled in me a sense of my own worth as belonging to her and as a child of God.

"She schooled me in the knowledge that the land of my birth, The Bahamas we all love, is a land of opportunity for anyone willing to work hard.

"As a boy, never in my wildest dreams could I ever imagine becoming an attorney, Member of Parliament or minister of government let alone prime minister. But having been given this great privilege I have dedicated my public life to providing every Bahamian boy and girl with opportunities I never had.

"This is why," he explained, "I have never stopped working to make sure that every Bahamian child on every island in every settlement in The Bahamas has decent schools and access to higher education. This is why my Government ensures that everyone meeting a certain criteria and academic standards can attend the College of The Bahamas at public expense. And that is why since coming to office in 2007 we increased scholarship funding from $400,000 to $7.75 million. And this does not include bonded scholarships, the All Bahamas Merit Scholarship or Bahamas Commonwealth Scholarships.

"I say to you, young Bahamians: While your country may give you a hand-up, you are not entitled to hand-outs."

"So, even while we have much to improve as a country including the quality of our public education system, young Bahamians, men and women, you have more opportunities than any generation in Bahamian history.

"And so we must not throw up our hands or find easy excuses; instead let us unite to help to restore law and order and civility and community by getting involved."

PM Ingraham pointed out that "unless more of us get involved, none of us is truly safe. In the end community engagement and service will be more effective in combating crime than iron bars and gated communities.

"Our task," he said, "is not only to stop criminals from breaking into our homes and businesses. As urgently we must stop them from wanting to do so in the first place."

And so, Bahamians, the task is ours. We hope that many will take up the Prime Minister's challenge and get actively involved - for our sake and that of the next generation.

October 04, 2011

tribune242 editorial

Caribbean Blog International