Crime demands political truce

THE PRIME Minister’s response to the horrific crime situation – which over the weekend saw a six-year-old girl among the latest victims of gun violence – underlines the pressure already on the myriad agencies that have a role to play in the State’s response to criminality.

However, in pointing fingers at the police, the Police Service Commission (PSC) and ordinary citizens, Dr Rowley has also implicitly underlined the imperative that now falls upon his own administration and the Opposition to work together to address this issue.

In a social media post on Sunday, the PM said he looked forward to the PSC's recommendations as it relates to the post of Commissioner of Police, expressed his expectation that the arms of national security will redouble their efforts and urged citizens to come forward with information.

“As we enter the new year, having closed the last one with record levels of murderous crime, it is clear that there is a body of citizens for whom these grim statistics warrant no pause nor any sober reflection,” Dr Rowley, who chairs the National Security Council, said.

“I make an appeal to all citizens who have any information on matters of violent criminal conduct to safely share such information.”

But the PM must know that simply making this appeal cannot be enough to address this matter, which is more than just a law enforcement crisis.

It represents the collapse of basic values that would safeguard the sanctity of human life and arguably constitutes the collapse of the rule of law.

The appointment of a new commissioner alone will not reverse this situation. Nor will asking police to work harder using the same resources that they had yesterday. Nor will begging people to give information at the risk of their own lives.

The Government needs to bring to the fore its own understanding of this problem, which it clearly views as a complex one requiring holistic effort.

Some effort has been made before to examine the issue, such as the Anthony Watkins Community Recovery Committee in 2020 meant to look at ways "hotspot" communities can be helped but its findings are yet to be revealed.

And in his New Year's address last month, the PM again touched on a consideration of crime from a public health perspective and planned to hold "a series of public conservations."

If Dr Rowley truly accepts that crime is an issue, the root of which begins in communities, whether PNM or UNC, then he must now set a new tone for his administration.

We call on the main political parties to form a truce on the issue of crime and, in the process, work together to set an appropriate example.