Leadership, Jacob, not covid

GARY GRIFFITH

former Commissioner of Police

IN THE last eight months I have sat back and seen many of the 200-plus policies established under my watch as police commissioner be dismantled, diminished, removed, shut down or people who were instrumental in the transformation of the TTPS fired.

The acting CoP, in a desperate attempt to elude facts, is now trying to measure crime via “pre-covid and post-covid” with his attempt to diminish the positive results, hard work, dedication to duty and performance delivered to the public by the 7,000 plus officers during that period of 2020 and early 2021, by trying to state that it was not the success of the TTPS that caused this, but covid19. This must surely be a slap in the face of every hard-working officer, especially to the friends and relatives of those who lost their lives, and no doubt will collectively diminish morale.

Just a few points to note to clarify this attempt to diminish what the TTPS achieved during that period, because of one man’s desperate attempt not to compare what he inherited to what he has now failed to deliver and continue.

Any criminologist can confirm that before you make such wild insinuations that a pandemic would reduce crime, because of less movement, you must interview convicted felons and certain elements who may be inclined to commit crime. Was this done? The answer is no. So how can anyone speak on behalf of what criminals may think or do without any facts? In other words, he and others who make such comments are doing so based on a personal view, and not data-driven facts.

The massive reduction in crime started before covid19, as can be confirmed in early 2020 when there was Carnival and major events being held, and the nation experienced the safest Carnival ever, with not one violent crime committed. After Carnival that trend continued and it was months after that the public health regulations set in, so the decline in crime commenced before the regulations.

The feeble excuse by Jacob to “congratulate” covid19 for crime reduction in that period is also a cop-out, as the majority of that time in 2020 and 2021, there was no law preventing movement to stop someone from going to kill, rape, steal, or kidnap, as the primary aspect of the public health regulations was to restrict business places from being opened for too long a period and events that can cause mass congregation of citizens in one place at one time. How can this be an avenue to reduce crime?

In fact, criminologists can confirm that incidents such as a pandemic may lead to a massive increase in unemployment, retrenchment, inflation and a greater desperation for money, all of which contribute to increased crime, not reduced crime.

This can be verified as in almost every major city in the US the crime spike was the highest ever during that period. So, I guess the murderers, rapists, kidnappers and robbers in those cities missed the memo drafted by Jacob that covid19 reduces crime.

If the baseless theory by Jacob that covid19 caused crime to reduce based on many staying indoors, then how come even gender-based violence, involving intimate relationship murders, was drastically reduced by 40 per cent during this period?

When the state of emergency was proclaimed to have a curfew, this was coming to the middle of 2021. So, as mentioned, in the period before – all of 2020 and the early part of 2021 – there was nothing preventing criminals from committing crimes, as they were still allowed to move freely.

Most of the violent crimes committed in late 2021 to the present day took place during broad daylight, and even in the middle of cities, which means that had it been during the period of even the SoE, the same crime would have taken place as there was no daylight restriction of movement. So Jacob’s sad attempt to use that as an excuse holds no relevance.

Finally, Jacob seems to have forgotten that during the same SoE, under his watch, in October and November 2021, there were 58 and 69 murders recorded, respectively, which was the third highest and highest monthly murder totals on record in our nation’s history. So how can he thank covid19 and restriction of movement for crime reduction, but when we had the SoE under him we recorded such high numbers of murders just one month into his leadership?

It is clear for all to see that the difference in what the nation experienced in 2020 and 2021 and what was experienced over the last eight months was not because of covid19, but because of a difference in leadership.

So, no Jacob, covid19 was not the cause of the difference. A motivated TTPS, supported by sound leadership, led the way.