The bravado of gangsters would be surprising if they were only now thumbing their snub noses at the police and the public. The recent report of WhatsApp photos of men posing with a high-powered arsenal of firearms (T&T Guardian yesterday) is the latest example of how disrespectful these people have become to our law enforcement officers.
These photos which allegedly show members of the Rasta City gang posing with guns, is a clear indication that there is no respect for law enforcement in T&T.
How did these "gangsters" get this brave? It is simple really. All you have to do is get the rate of detection and the rate of conviction statistical data to answer the question.
These photos fly in the face of the former TTPSSWA President Anand Ramesar and the National Security Minister's statements that the police have been having significant movement in the violent crime fight. From these pictures it does not seem that way to me.
Or, maybe this is like the fever getting to its highest temperature before breaking. Either way, it is make or break time for the TTPS to show the public "...what the police can do," because we are the ones who have to duck stray bullets in the daylight and the moonlight.
I am appalled, disgusted and fed up of reading about bodies found bearing marks of violence; seeing shootouts and armed robberies captured by security cameras; and other forms of displays like these that have graced our electronic, print and social media, without some form of non-anarchic justice being achieved.
How are we to jump start our economy with this type of behaviour being paraded on our front pages and our top stories? How many more must die before the elements of corruption that support these initiatives are brought to bear?
It is sad to think that as we approach our celebration of our Independence Day that "we living in jail," while the bandits, gangsters and charlatans of politics roam free.
Tracy Shields,
Wallerfield