YorickBrown
06-13-04, - 09:21 PM
Today’s headline in the Tribune: “Police ‘war’ with criminals” is quite disturbing on many levels. With Bahamian citizens and business owners getting increasingly agitated with the incidents of violent crime in our streets, it is time for a solution to be presented that seeks to more effectively prevent the cause of a crime before it is committed, rather than seeking to address the issue after the fact.
The Bahamas is a relatively small nation. Though I am in no way a professional consultant in such matters, my training and experience with matters of regulatory control over a body of people has proven that a community approach is often the best way to deal with matters over an extended period of time.
I agree with Superintendent Marvin Dames regarding the police force’s preparation to use “necessary force” when applicable, but in my opinion it would be much better if the police force jumped ahead a few generations and became directly connected with the kids in our school systems. What I am proposing is not one or two brief chat sessions with a youth group or two, but a deliberate and complete integration with teachers and principals. A troubled school youth today will most likely become tomorrow’s offender. It is time to look much closer at an approach that bends the “shoot” now before it grows into a “tree”.
I am aware that some of these programs have been started on a trial basis already, but even more social guidance needs to be done. A direct, aggressive campaign on crime will only lead to unnecessary loss of lives, in addition to an increased stress level in the general populous. It also will put the police themselves in more danger since established criminal elements will retaliate accordingly, driving the level of violence in this “war” on crime to a higher state. The purpose of the police force is to assist in enforcing our laws, not to instigate an ongoing battle that will only serve to split our communities in two.
The persons that many citizens currently view as criminals in our society are often well known in their communities. Instead of shaking down or questioning these individuals every time a squad car goes by, how about police officers giving them a position of responsibility in their community? Moves like these will only lead to communities learning how to police themselves. It will not happen overnight (think ten to twenty years from now if efforts are consistent), but this approach leaves the potential perpetrator feeling as if they are ultimately responsible for what happens in their section of this island. Thus the potential perpetrator becomes the protector.
Another thing worth mentioning is how the message that the police force presents in their moves against crime can influence the way that store owners and community leaders regard our youth. If every kid that gets into a bit of trouble is treated like a future criminal from the start, there is little doubt that they will follow any other road. Guidance comes from all sectors of our environment. If we want a safer community then everyone must work together at making it safer. This can not happen if the youth in our society are pre-labelled as troublemakers.
There are many other elements to factor into this analysis of how to alleviate the ills of our island society, but the basic point is for all of us to be careful of how we publicly react to our collective problems. Headlines that define and designate a split (more accurately a ‘war’) between police and certain elements in our communities (who are “innocent until proven guilty”) do NOT help. Our hard-working police force and their efforts are not the end-all solution to the problem of crime. Anyone who believes this does not know the true meaning of the word “community”.
The Bahamas is a relatively small nation. Though I am in no way a professional consultant in such matters, my training and experience with matters of regulatory control over a body of people has proven that a community approach is often the best way to deal with matters over an extended period of time.
I agree with Superintendent Marvin Dames regarding the police force’s preparation to use “necessary force” when applicable, but in my opinion it would be much better if the police force jumped ahead a few generations and became directly connected with the kids in our school systems. What I am proposing is not one or two brief chat sessions with a youth group or two, but a deliberate and complete integration with teachers and principals. A troubled school youth today will most likely become tomorrow’s offender. It is time to look much closer at an approach that bends the “shoot” now before it grows into a “tree”.
I am aware that some of these programs have been started on a trial basis already, but even more social guidance needs to be done. A direct, aggressive campaign on crime will only lead to unnecessary loss of lives, in addition to an increased stress level in the general populous. It also will put the police themselves in more danger since established criminal elements will retaliate accordingly, driving the level of violence in this “war” on crime to a higher state. The purpose of the police force is to assist in enforcing our laws, not to instigate an ongoing battle that will only serve to split our communities in two.
The persons that many citizens currently view as criminals in our society are often well known in their communities. Instead of shaking down or questioning these individuals every time a squad car goes by, how about police officers giving them a position of responsibility in their community? Moves like these will only lead to communities learning how to police themselves. It will not happen overnight (think ten to twenty years from now if efforts are consistent), but this approach leaves the potential perpetrator feeling as if they are ultimately responsible for what happens in their section of this island. Thus the potential perpetrator becomes the protector.
Another thing worth mentioning is how the message that the police force presents in their moves against crime can influence the way that store owners and community leaders regard our youth. If every kid that gets into a bit of trouble is treated like a future criminal from the start, there is little doubt that they will follow any other road. Guidance comes from all sectors of our environment. If we want a safer community then everyone must work together at making it safer. This can not happen if the youth in our society are pre-labelled as troublemakers.
There are many other elements to factor into this analysis of how to alleviate the ills of our island society, but the basic point is for all of us to be careful of how we publicly react to our collective problems. Headlines that define and designate a split (more accurately a ‘war’) between police and certain elements in our communities (who are “innocent until proven guilty”) do NOT help. Our hard-working police force and their efforts are not the end-all solution to the problem of crime. Anyone who believes this does not know the true meaning of the word “community”.