Here of late, it seems as if Lucifer himself has set up residence in The Bahamas and has allowed his imps free rein. We use this image as metaphor to some who suggest our continuing bewilderment at the crime surge in The Bahamas.
Some observers are of the view that crime statistics are in a sense the fever chart of a sick society. By this reckoning, countries like Jamaica, Trinidad, Haiti and The Bahamas would be considered as ailing. In the case of this country, the crime statistics would reveal that offences are being committed by the rich and the poor, by black people and white people.
The main difference between the two kinds of criminals seems to be that offences committed by the poor tend to be of the variety that would be placed under the rubric ‘domestic crimes’. They are domestic in a very literal way in that they are committed by people who are in their homes.
They involve neighbours, family and friends. In some instances, these crimes involve partners in crime who fall out and turn their venomous fury on each other. This is that nether world where treachery reigns and in which no one is friend to any one.
Then there are the other situations and scenarios where dishonest men and women- would be sweethearts and lovers- who become snarled in the coils of their own devious devices. These scenarios inevitably play out as a species of blood sports.
Sadly, this nation’s children are quite often some of the innocent victims of these kinds of criminals. What makes the situation even worse is that there are any number of miserable reports, which speak to the depredations of many men who purport to be pastors, prophets and apostles. Some of them are akin to ravenous wolves, albeit their garb is as shepherds. While we have commented profusely on the so-called crime problem in The Bahamas we are constrained to get back to this topic. This is so because the bloody beat of crime continues.
At one end of that spectrum are reports concerning Ponzi Schemes and the theft of millions of dollars from unsuspecting investors. We are also hearing the tale of the big-time money swindler who was able -up until now- to get away with a billion dollar rip-off.
What is even more troubling is the sense we are getting that the authorities do not have a clue as to what is to be done about crime in the streets and crime in the suites.
That may of course be due to the fact that there are so very many so-called ‘respectable, law-abiding Bahamians’ who make their living off the likes of the swindlers and co-artists who are in our midst.
There are also shreds of information to suggest that some of our leading citizens are directly or indirectly implicated in some of the violence that takes place on our city’s streets. Here the reference is to the ubiquity of the drugs trade and the extent to which that trade links wholesalers and street-level thugs. They are all engaged in the same nasty business.
And then there is the generalized social acceptance of law-breaking. In this bag are to be found those people who are buying and selling practically every thing, albeit without licenses, thereby depriving the state of taxes. Then there is the ubiquitous numbers man and his web shops.
While we are caught up with this recitation concerning crime and its lack of consequences in this self-styled Christian nation, reference might also be made to that army of criminals in uniform who routinely feed of corruption in their public offices.
Whether reference is made to crooked cops taking pay-offs or to Customs and Immigration Officers who have mastered the arts and sciences of pulling deals, the story is the same: crime and criminals run amok.
Compounding this woeful picture is that other story which points to the fact that crime does pay in The Bahamas. Very many men and women, who routinely break the law, routinely get away with their myriad of depredations. It is these successful ‘criminals’ who become role models for others who would also dare to become rich, or die trying.
This is quite literally bad news.
Something should be done about crime in both high and low places. Only then will we all have the kind of country where honest labour is properly rewarded, and where dishonest pursuits are rigorously and righteously prosecuted.
In the ultimate analysis, then, Bahamians should not pretend surprise when dishonesty and law-breaking produce and encourage more dishonesty and law-breaking. They are only getting today what they sowed yesterday.
Editor, The Bahama Journal
