Guest column: Kamla's move last chance to fix T&T - by Dr Hamid Ghany

As the debate over the use of a state of emergency as a policy option by the State to address the crime problem in Trinidad and Tobago continues to produce the expected divided opinions, there is a clear level of political support for the Government in its efforts on this score. 

The issue that needs to be interrogated is whether the psychological shift that has given the security forces the upper hand is a useful tool or an abusive one for the society. 

For many years, the question had been asked by many: “What is the Government doing about crime?” As the murder rate and the rate of violent crime in the society began to rise parallel with the last oil and gas boom in the first decade of this century, the theory that economic prosperity would reduce crime was disproved completely. In the same way, it can be said that deteriorating economic conditions will not necessarily create an increase in crime as seen since 2009.

Having a criminal mind may come from many sources, but creating a new social order whereby the drivers of crime are fundamentally discouraged and placed in disarray will help. 

There have been many critics of the use of a state of emergency to address the issue of violent crime. However, what is emerging is that people are quite content to permit the State to exercise additional powers to “rough up” the criminal element. 

The emergency is also allowing us to view ourselves in a different light. Of the reduced number of murders committed since the start of the state of emergency, a very large percentage of them have been related to domestic violence. A state of emergency is not going to make domestic violence disappear.

This ought to tell us that there are deep-rooted social problems that are being exposed that curfews, detentions and roadblocks will not fix. Social policy has a powerful role here. 

However, for the crime-weary public there is an obvious relief that something serious is being done by the state to fix this problem. Notwithstanding the fact that the pressure group “Fixin T&T” is now officially opposed to the state of emergency, there are many who see this as an opportunity to fix T&T even if the pressure group of that name does not want it.

For too long we have had to tolerate being on the ropes in the fight against criminality in this country. Tough talk over the years has provided little positive action. Blimps, eyes in the sky, the creation of legally-questionable units, inputs from foreign universities and consultants, operations with snake-like names, billions of dollars in public money, meetings with community leaders, etc and we end up with a draft United Nations Human Development Report that tells us that we are like Baghdad where the statistical murder rate is concerned. 

What happened over the last decade? Why was there “no bang for the buck” as the Americans would say? We adopted the approach that we could just throw money at the problem and it should go away.

This time, it appears that we are throwing force at the problem and it has clearly been shaken up. The epitome of where the society has reached is the disquiet caused over a comment that curfew parties would be reviewed. 

The society is so hedonistic that serious discourse about the problems facing it became engulfed in a controversy about curfew parties. Hopefully, this state of emergency will bring back an element of seriousness so that the curse of the Carnival mentality can allow us to fix T&T. 

If after 48 years of having local commissioners of police we want to act as though all of the problems in the Police Service today were caused over the last year during the tenure of Commissioner Gibbs, then we are really into serious defensive avoidance and denial.

Commissioner Gibbs cannot be held responsible for the pre-existing problems of the Police Service.

On July 4, 2008, the House of Representatives voted against the nomination of Stephen Williams to become Commissioner of Police. After re-advertisement and a change of government, on July 2, 2010, the House of Representatives voted for Dwayne Gibbs to become Commissioner of Police. 

The Scott Drug Report of the 1980s and the Scotland Yard Report of the 1990s never got the kind of attention that could have rectified some of the problems in the Police Service. Gibbs is not to blame for this.

The option of a state of emergency was declined in 1985 by then prime minister George Chambers on the recommendation of senior counsel Desmond Allum to deal with the recommendations of Justice Garvin Scott. 

The option of a state of emergency was declined by former prime minister Patrick Manning in 2003 in favour of trying other options. 

The society cannot afford to miss this opportunity a third time. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar decided that the time had come. We had run out of options and she took the step that two previous Prime Ministers avoided. Now we have a chance.

The obove column by Dr Hamid Ghany has been reproduced from the SUNDAY GUARDIAN with the author's permission.