Failure to arrest rising crime in TT

THE EDITOR: Crime is on the rise as revealed by statistics easily available through a little research. It has been rising steadily for the past ten plus years despite the “reassurances” of police and politicians who provide statistics to show there are occasional decreases in numbers in various categories. These decreases are temporary blips in the overall picture, which, if charted by an unbiased observer, clearly shows the rising crime numbers as well as the rising crime rate.

I suppose many people have given up on the lesser-impact crimes, such as speeding and parking on the wrong side of the road. What is foremost on people’s minds are the more serious crimes involving violence and loss of life with, sadly, often gruesome acts perpetrated on the victims. One can only wonder whether the perpetrators have reverted to baser animal instincts rather than higher human cognitive capabilities. When you think of it, even animals aren’t as depraved as some of these perps.

Perhaps the hardest fact to digest is the utter incapacity of the law enforcement services to get a grip on crime-fighting. Whether that grip is on crime prevention or crime investigation, failure is an abysmal fact staring us in the face. Add to this failure the inability of the judicial system, itself under a tsunami of criticisms of its own making, to cope with the rare arrest and one can see why hope of change is as likely as a former high official repaying an illicit housing allowance.

Extending this idea further, with a detection and arrest record in serious crimes at less than ten per cent, but a trial timeframe in the judicial system (mess?) taking between five and 15 years, what would happen if that detection rate was to increase to – let’s speculate here – 80 per cent? If you think Pratt and Morgan’s five-year time limit is impossible now...

A recipe for anarchy, I imagine.

As to the regular baying for blood, everyone forgets that before there is a hanging or public execution, one must first catch and verify the guilt of the perpetrator. Sadly, this is near impossible with the current police membership, especially considering the inept standards of thinking and performance.

Some detractors might question my loyalty to the country. But that would be a red herring. Criticism does not mean disloyalty. Only a fool will ignore the obvious. Other detractors will want to know why I am not suggesting improvements. A short-sighted view without the benefit of research, as I have done on many occasions.

MOHAN RAMCHARAN

via e-mail