Trudy Emmanuel stares at the photograph of her son Adrian Roker before tears cloud her eyes.
Choking back the grief, she tries to explain the pain she felt after she was told Adrian had been stabbed to death last month ﾖ the 13th homicide victim of the year.
“Sometimes when you hear things like this, you say well you understand what people feel but until you go through it, [your] heart is all cramp-ed up and you are so weak,” she said. “You have to deal with everything else.”
Since Adrian’s death, there have been eight more murders in 2006.
In just five months, 20 young men and one teenage girl have lost their lives to mindless violence in The Bahamas ﾖ an increase of approximately 17 per cent of the 2005 figure for the same period.
The situation has reached such a crisis point that two senior policemen have warned that the very fabric of our society is starting to unravel.
“The crime figures so far speak about the social ills we have in our country,” Inspector Walter Evans, the Police Liaison Officer, said.
“And in terms of resolution of conflicts, it says a great deal how people, when they get into arguments, resolve them and the extent to which people will go to express themselves.”
Hulan Hanna, Chief Superintendent of Police, echoed those sentiments and pointed to the dangers that society is now facing. “We need to learn how to think before we act,” he said.
“Violence seems to be the only way out for some people, but they need to learn how to solve their problems without fighting.”
Problem solving and dealing with drug issues are paramount, according to former gang member Carlos Reid.
The Youth Against Violence president said analysts predict a crime epidemic in the country if these underlining problems are not addressed.
“When drugs become a major factor in this, then we’re in trouble,” he said. “It definitely will happen.
“We’re on call for that. If something is not done, we could be in the same situation as Jamaica and Trinidad.”
But Mr Reid still believes the rise in violent crime can be stemmed. “We are in a good position to get a grip on this. We just need to be able to put the right pieces together.”
Government statistics show the depth of the problem. Figures from the Department of Statistics trace the murder rate from the early 1980’s.
Back in 1983, there were nine homicides in The Bahamas. The figure jumped to 25 a year later.
By the early 1990s, the surge had continued.
In 1994, there were 56 murders and for most of the decade, the figures hovered around in the mid-40s before reaching the 52 mark last year.
So why is The Bahamas plagued by a soaring murder rate? World-renown psychologist David Allen insists these acts of violence are not random.
“These things go in steps,” he said. “The public need to co-operate with the police and call them when an argument is going on before someone gets injured.
“They [people] will pass by and see someone fighting or fussing and they won’t stop. They will only call the police when the knife goes in or the bullet goes off,” Dr Allen added.
“No one just gets killed, it was either an argument or a fight that could have been stopped before that man or woman was murdered.”
Whatever the reasons, vict-ims such as Adrian Roker will never walk the streets of Nassau again.
“I’m still trying to put this all together and figure out why this happened myself,” Trudy Emmanuel said. “I just want answers.”
So do the families and friends of the other 21 victims murdered in The Bahamas this year.
By: IANTHIA SMITH, The Nassau Guardian
