Letter: The proof is before your eyes, Senator Prescott

Independent Senator Elton Prescott asked the Government Tuesday to “Show me the proof” to support why it was necessary to have the legislation approved to give members of the Defence Force police powers of arrest. 

Well I assumed that the learned Senator was trying so hard to be Independent that he did not read the Newspapers so that his opinion would not be biased in any way.

If he had taken the time to read the comments by the Acting Commisioner of Police in Tuesday's Newsday, the following is the proof :

"Since the joint patrols began operating, March recorded the fewest murders in any month for the past six years. The Commissioner stated that “you will have recognized that for the month of March we had the opposite to what we had in February in terms of violent crime. 

We have had a major reduction in in murders and shootings and other violent crime incident…” When questioned as to the reason for the drop in crime -He went on to say “Its almost obvious – the police and the soldiers t the beginning of March went into a very high activity mode..”

"There were 45 murders in February, when most of the country was in a party mood for Carnival! Apart from the curfew that was imposed in 2011, there have been no other month within the last six years where the figure came anywhere close to seventeen!"

So what more proof is needed? 

However, when I read the entire contribution from Mr. Prescott, I realized he did read the article from the newspapers. What surprised me further was that his comment on the article from the newspapers was “ So, therefore, it doesn’t seem to me that we need new legislation. We know that we are already excelling at what we set out to…”

This comment has left me very confused. Is he saying that if it is working we do not need to endorse it or legalise it?

Jenna Thomas | Maracas, St Joseph