Bad start to 2018

THE EDITOR: The murderous start to 2018 has left me feeling very disturbed. We had 494 murders at the end of 2017, and already we have had over 20 murders in the first eight days of this year. This is very troubling for a country that has about 1.3 million people. This is just a handful of people.

New York City, for 2017, had 290 murders, with a population of 8.5 million people. For this year, up to the last time I checked, New York City had only two or three murders.

And nobody is saying what they are going to do about this situation. “Hope” cannot fight crime. There must be some kind of strategy and a crime plan, which we do not have or those who are in authority, do not know what to do or how to put it together. How did NYC bring down their murder rate? That city’s Commissioner of Police James O’ Neil said that strategies implemented, played a major role in bringing the murder rate down.

We should look at what strategies the NYPD used and try to apply it to the local crime situation in terms of detection and prosecution. We are losing the battle on crime and every year is the same thing...playing the blame game over and over.

You all want to bring legislation for gangs? We do not have a gang problem here. We have a gun problem. Yes we have gangs in our country and we need to eradicate them. But if those who are in authority can stop the flow of illegal firearms, then we may able to win the war on crime. It appears that no government has the guts to go after the gun suppliers and this is the problem. No major gun supplier has, to my knowledge, ever been held or brought to justice in this country.

What seems to be the modus operandi in this country is talk, talk and more talk...with no action. Billions of dollars have been spent and still there is no solution to the crime problem and poor results in terms of arresting the criminals. We need to take a different approach on crime. We have to accept that we are a lawless and corrupt society. And something must be done fast.

We must have a Commissioner of Police who is willing and able to get the job done. He or she has to be tenacious, professional and proactive. That person must be able to make quick decisions.

Modicia Martin via e-mail