Why no celebration of drop in murders?

THE EDITOR: As an ordinary citizen, I feel both proud and puzzled. Proud of what our country has achieved in the fight against crime, and puzzled as to why it has not been shouted from every rooftop and newspaper front page.

As of October 1, the murder toll stood at 270. On the same date last year, it was 474. That is a 43 per cent decrease – nearly half. This is nothing short of extraordinary.

In just five months of the new government, and in only 100 days of the new Commissioner of Police’s leadership, we are seeing results that once seemed impossible.

According to official police figures, violent crimes are down 22 per cent, serious reported crimes are down 15 per cent, and larceny of vehicles has fallen by 34 per cent. These are not minor shifts – they are exceeding expectations and targets.

The combination of the state of emergency and the dismantling of gang influence in the URP, Cepep, and the reforestation programme appears to be working. The streets are calmer, the statistics speak for themselves and people are beginning to breathe a little easier.

So why isn’t this bigger news? Why do we not see banner headlines, deep analyses and open acknowledgement of what is clearly a historic turnaround? We are quick to highlight the bad but hesitant to celebrate the good.

Congratulations must go to Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Commissioner of Police Allister Guevarro, Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander and Minister of Defence Wayne Sturge. Their leadership and actions are paying off.

This is good news for a change. And it deserves to be front-page news.

DARREN GARNER

via e-mail