A pie in the sky.
That was the reaction of criminologist Daurius Figueira to Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar's short, medium and long term crime-fighting measures, which she promised to institute when the United National Congress assumes office again.
Addressing UNC supporters at the Monday Night Forum in Chaguanas, Persad-Bissessar rolled out her plans, stating that the Government had been clueless in bringing the murder rate down.
She made the statement against the backdrop of eight murders in 18 hours between Sunday and Monday, one of whom was famed playwright Raymond Choo Kong.
Among the measures, she promised to initiate are- targeting hot spot, establish an integrated technology backbone to ensure a two-way flow of communication between the TTPS and citizens, use the University of the West Indies to train members of the protective services, set up a dual purpose facility for forensic sciences to detect crime, remove the police from being a command and control warrior to a partner and guardian mindset, use legislation to wipe out corruption in the protective services, establish a special court to deal with corruption in the public service, implement a special court to deal with corruption in the public service and establish a special unit with local and international special investigators and prosecutors to investigate members of the protective services involved in corruption.
Figueira said yesterday that Persad-Bissessar's crime plan was nothing more than a "pie in the sky... which will not address crime on the ground."
He said a dangerous trend was emerging in the country where "you want to blame the police for what is going on...to make them a scapegoat. You can't scapegoat them. You have to constructively criticise."
He said the biggest criminals in the land live among well to do and respectable people, dismissing the notion that poverty was one of the catalyst for crime.
He said Persad-Bissessar still has to learn the link between criminality and profitability.
In 2011, Figueira said Persad-Bissessar called a State of Emergency by targeting hot spot areas which failed miserably.
National Security Minister Stuart Young described the UNC's crime plan as "regurgitated" initiatives, stating that a lot of what Persad-Bissessar unveiled has already been put in place by the Government.