Guest column: A citizen's plan for tackling the crime problem

The escalating murder toll is once again bringing the Government’s inability to bring crime under control into sharp focus and is being expressed both in the media and on the ground by an increasingly frustrated electorate tired of the clumsy misdirection attempts and PR stunts. 

Despite promises made on the campaign trail and bearing in mind that it was this same inability to control escalating violent crime that led to the ouster of the last regime, one would assume that the Government would know that the most important issue to the population is crime. 

In place of anything new or even remotely workable we are treated to finger-pointing and a new round of the blame game, with the latest plan seeming to be the demonising of Police Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs.

I was of the impression that the Government was aware that this situation cannot be dealt with by one man, regardless of the man, and many in the Police Service are now accusing political forces of attempting to make Gibbs into a scapegoat as a distraction and to further agendas where their candidate for the top cop’s job is concerned. 

They point to the realities that have plagued law enforcement for ages, that have not been addressed in any meaningful way, and they insist that any future replacements to Gibbs will themselves fail until these issues are dealt with. 

What obtains instead demotivates and does nothing to encourage the morale required to get the job done. The Police Service is woefully undermanned, under-serviced and too poorly organised to be effective. 

Issues like working conditions, remuneration, advancement within the ranks, institutional racism, political interference, lack of support systems have to become immediate front-burner concerns as these are the impediments which are preventing the plans and policies of whoever is in charge from ever reaching the ground. If they are reaching, they are not being implemented in anything like a meaningful, practical or sustainable fashion.

The Police Service itself needs to be reorganised towards a more management-based approach with a defined hierarchy precinct model based on constituencies, with each constituency responsible for its own performance within. 

This is the fastest way to identify not only the trouble spots that require extra attention, but also non-performing leaders within the service and dysfunctional units and stations based on now easily tracked performance statistics. 

Imagine a world where the commissioner deals with 41 inspectors, each charged with the responsibility of setting up and managing the law enforcement within his own constituency, leading to a more “as needs”-based approach in the different communities. Or put another way, what is required or what may work in mainly agrarian Mayaro may be of little use or functionality in Diego Martin Central, a more urban, densely packed and populated community.

Outside of the three or four “hot spots,” the Police Service needs to be put on a community police footing that brings the population in closer touch with the officers. Outside of actual policing procedures, all administrative functions within stations should be handled by civilians from within the area as a means to this. 

Private sector performance management needs to be emulated. Facilities need to be upgraded to the point where the officers are treated with the respect they deserve if we intend to recruit and keep the best of the best. The known hot spots have to be treated with both honey and vinegar and not just excused away and left to their own devices. 

We definitely have to implement a planned and sustained effort of suppression on violent crime within the hot-spot com- munities. One of the best ways to do this would be by establishing the National Police Command Centre and the Police Training Academy within the radius of Beetham, Laventille and Morvant to put law enforcement boots on the ground as an answer to the gangs.

The blessings (if there are any) in this situation is that more than three-quarters of the communities prone to gang violence exist cheek by jowl with each other, making for an ease in control and execution of any real anti-gang plans. 

Further, we need to establish an army recruitment centre and, if possible, a training camp as well within the vicinity of the highlighted areas to augment police suppression activities and provide for more law enforcement personnel on the ground as a deterrent to violent activities. 

More importantly, this would provide employment within the communities for support services (cater- ing, laundry etc) and also to offer opportunities for career choices within the protective services rather than against them.

At the heart of the burgeoning crime problem remains the failure of our systems to effectively school and educate our youth, regrettably at a time when popular culture wants to glamourise thug life. 

This needs to be addressed with fervour and focus as all the suppression in the world will fail if we do not deal with the issue of under-education and lack of employable skills that are making many of our young people easy targets for a life of crime. 

If there is going to be anything like a war against crime it starts here, and it must start with the Ministry of Education declaring war on illiteracy in the depressed communities, again as a matter of urgency. We need to set mandatory national standards of education that include computer literacy as well as the ability to read, write and do basic arithmetic. 

Prison reform is excellent but it must be focused on prisoner redevelopment or it would be for naught. We need to reform our prisons so that they are based on re-education first and foremost and not just “hold and treat.” An educated man leaving prison is far less likely to return as he now has real options and is employable.

The backlog of cases in the courts are compounding the problem and confounding the efforts of law enforcement simply because they are too overwhelmed by the sheer burden of dealing with the current case-load while trying to negotiate the backlog. 

A current cases court needs to be established with a view to dealing with cases as they are presented and should be set up to run 24 hours if required and expanded as needs be, relegating the outstanding cases to be dealt with by the existing courts until the backlog is cleared up. 

Effective law enforcement and social management are easily accomplished where there is political will. Clearly our major problems stem from the results of years of mismanagement but this can be addressed in quick time if approached holistically. 

Redevelopment of the depressed and at-risk communities from where criminal labour is being spawned must occur simultaneously with any suppression plans if real and lasting results are to be achieved. We need to move away from the ghetto model and focus on the reinvention of the hot-spot areas into functional neighbourhoods and communities to prevent the gestation of criminal enterprise in the first place.

Phillip Edward Alexander