Crime plans not having desired end

THE EDITOR: With the many media conferences, discussions and police town hall meetings on crime over the years, are we any better off than when we started? It is not that the police are not trying, but things are not really getting any better when it comes to reining in criminal activities.

I saw THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine voicing forcefully his feelings about the situation in Tobago. This small paradise is now overrun with crime. Murders are at an all-time high – 24 for the year so far. Tobagonians are certainly not pleased with what they are seeing.

It is clear the present strategies are failing to achieve the desired results. We hear about guns being removed from the streets by the police. However, if arms and ammunition continue to enter the country by whatever means, we will not be able to bring crime under control.

How many innocent lives have been lost over the years through heinous crimes, including children? The statistics do not lie. Grief, pain and sorrow are still in the homes of many citizens who have lost loved ones. Some are still waiting for closure, for justice. How can that be right?

To those who have the mandate to protect our citizens, hear the cry of the people and see their pain. You simply need to do better. We need to put aside the politics, dislikes and all that divide us, and work together to restore sweet TT to a paradise.

If the current strategies do not bring the required results, could it be that we need external help? I see nothing wrong with that. It does not matter from where it comes, once we get results.

I believe our soldiers have a more active role to play in the crime battle. Let's get them out there confronting the heavily armed criminals.

ARNOLD GOPEESINGH

via e-mail