The Royal Bahamas Police Force has brought down three criminal organizations in recent years, according to the Commissioner of Police Paul Farquharson who has reached a new level of determination to eradicate the criminal element.
While crime and the fear of it have become thorns in the sides of the Bahamian community, law enforcement officers are just as determined to stamp out the scourge.
Swift justice just might be the edge that law enforcement officers have been looking for.
“The criminal justice system must operate more swiftly than it is doing and deal with trials as best they can,” Commissioner Farquharson said on the Love 97 talk show “Policing Today”. “I know they are under the gun at the moment but it has to improve because swift justice sends a message and that message must be sent in 2003.”
Mr. Farquharson had told the Bahama Journal in an earlier interview that he supported the Prime Minister’s call for a review of the Bail Act because a significant number of the crimes being committed are done by persons on bail for other offences.
Police authorities are hoping to carry the momentum from major feats in 2002 into the new year as they tackle the criminal element head on.
The Royal Bahamas Police Force has reaped the benefits of devolution, a change that has placed more responsibility in the hands of divisional commanders. Last year, eight out of ten crimes were solved and a major drug network was exposed.
But still there are lingering challenges that must be tackled. The Police Commissioner is determined to overcome them.
He says initiatives like the Farm Road Community Project, commissioned by Prime Minister Perry Christie and strategies like community policing are invaluable.
“We are going to eventually move that initiative to places like Kemp Road, Bain Town, Nassau Village and all these places and hopefully that will have a telling effect on the reduction of the fear of crime,” Mr. Farquharson said.
“Crime is something that will always occur but we must manage it, reduce the fear of crime and then hopefully people can sleep better at night,” he added.
Last year, police forces were concentrated on the over-the-hill East Street and Farm Road community, with officers walking the beat, forging relations with residents, and tearing down abandoned structures that had become a haven for criminals.
Since then, crime in the area has been reduced, Commissioner Farquharson confirmed.
“The other important thing is that other regions in the Caribbean have heard about it and are now duplicating what we have done in Farm Road so we have to accelerate that programme because it is working,” he said.
But for all the policing strategies that are being employed, law enforcement officers have admitted that community partnerships are just as important to maintain law and order.
The Bahama Journal
