On some days, the reports are about rapes. On others, the news is all about robberies. Yet again, there are also days when there are reports about other assaults, including murder.
Just a few days ago, there was one report which was particularly jarring. This time around, it involved an alleged assault which ended with one man being shot dead. As of this commentary, the suggestion is that the dead man had earlier assaulted a maid. It is also being reported that he had an accomplice.
This incident has sparked an outrage of comment throughout the community. Much of the distress comes from people, who believe that the police are not doing enough to contain the crime menace. We are inclined to agree. The point we make is that the time for discussion is over, and that the government should move to address this problem, sooner rather than later.
But even as we note the importance of this matter, we counsel and caution that the response to crime, should employ more than the proverbial band-aidﾴ. A comprehensive approach to the issues knitted together under the head ﾓcrimeﾔ, should be adopted. This implies that short-term strategies and tactics such as increased patrols, neighbour crime watch committees and any number of so-called urban renewal projects might only be expensive palliatives.
What must be done as far as crime is concerned, is for the government and people of The Bahamas to face the issue of crime head on. In order for the problem of crime to be addressed as it should, every Bahamian must be brought to that place where the expression ﾑneighbourﾴs keeperﾴ is given real meaning. Indeed, there is an abundance of evidence to suggest that there are far too many Bahamians who only react to the incidence and fearful impact of ﾑcrimeﾴ when they are directly touched. This is not good enough.
The so-called ﾑaverage Bahamianﾴ must come to that level of consciousness and lived concern, where the well-being of each is linked to the well-being and care of others. This problem is brutally dramatised in situations and circumstances, such as the one which took place in an upscale neighbourhood just the other day.
From all appearances, when two ostensibly different worlds clashed and collided one man was left dead on the street, and a community was terrorised. Again, this is not good enough. We are quite convinced that the ﾑcrimeﾴ problem as it is being experienced, is merely the surface expression of a deeper malaise. There is today every indication that the troubles on our streets are directly linked to a number of other national failures. These would include the myriad of ills and troubles affecting family life; any number of grossly inadequate schools; failing church leadership and, for sure, a grossly inadequate police complement.
Behind it all, would be the hundreds of young men and women who make their living by hurting others, stealing and through the use of other strong-arm tactics. At another and more elite level, there are other lawbreakers who do not often get the label ﾑcriminalﾴ attached to their dealing, but who are criminals nonetheless. They, too, bear a large share of the blame for the current mess.
Today it is really not about trying to figure out how much of the blame should be parcelled out to anyone, but to figure out how this country can put its social affairs in order. In the ultimate analysis, those who want improvements to schools, better families and safer streets must realize that all of these come with price tabs. Bahamians can only get as much of the goods as they are prepared to purchase. The government can and should take the lead in hammering this message home.
Editor, The Bahama Journal
