Whenever I wake up to news reports such as the Prime Minister declaring that crime is now apparently "unacceptable", it makes me want to just go back to sleep and never wake up again.To suggest that crime has only just become "unacceptable" means that it was once acceptable, and I can't for the life of me understand how that is possible.
Mind you, that this is the same Prime Minister that recently asked us to accept that thousands of illegal abortions take place in our country on a regular basis, but I would have thought that a single act of criminal activity would have been one too many for any administration, which is possibly why I am not a politician.
When Dr Rowley then arrived at the the discovery that there has been an escalation in crime, due mostly in part to the inefficiency of law enforcement officers, and the rising aggression sweeping the land, it appeared that this was surprising to him, but what else could he have possibly have expected?
Since allocating one billion dollars to the Ministry of National Security at the start of his term, there has been only three major items instituted for crime prevention and detection–re-implementation of the joint patrols, re-introduction of speed traps; and amendments to the Strategic Services Amendment bill.
But his sudden realisation that a lot of the violent crime occurring today may not be of the organized variety, or even premeditated, means that the SSA will not be able to detect or solve these crimes in the way that they hoped.
Granted that both the Prime Minister and Minister of National Security once assured the populace that the spike in murders and violent crime was a result of gang violence spilling onto the streets, but now that "ordinary citizens" are taking advantage of the chaos, it is clear that none of us are safe any longer.
As crime continues to escalate however, I am sure someone will suggest a limited state-of-emergency,if they haven't already, but it will be interesting to see if and how they will implement it. Because, while this may be the best course of action to take crime back down to "acceptable" levels, the PNM do have their pride to consider, and sometimes sacrifice is necessary to protect it.
Ravi Maharaj