Tuesday, August 7 2012

THE EDITOR: Crime stats are a load of rubbish. Unless you pre-plan a set number of various types of crimes to take place like booby-traps and then wait on citizens to run into them to set them off, what is the point of comparing crime numbers between years or between similar months of different years?

Who can tell if a person will or will not randomly lose their mind and murder a family member?

What about crunching crime statistics can say if a “gang member” will snatch a chain and mortally shoot the victim on Frederick Street, Port-of-Spain or feel more desperate or confident to rob and murder in Tunapuna, instead.

Just because say ten murders happened in Central Trinidad, does it follow that the feelings, atmosphere, motive, desire, boldness, vulnerability, victim of the same profile and public response exist, same time second year around for ten more murders to take place in the same district? And for these random elements to come together a third and fourth year same month consistently. If comparing crime numbers had any value authorities would have the ability to stop crime before they occurred confident in the knowledge that since, say, 20 murders went down in Diego Martin in July all forces and resources would be deployed to prevent the coming 20 the year following, same district, same month.

Crime does not work that way does it? Crime follows the laws of Chaos Theory.

B Joseph

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