Not just Erla's war

THE EDITOR: The newly elected Commissioner of Police should be commended for her bold assertion that under her watch the murder rate will achieve a reduction beginning in June and continue its downward trajectory over the long haul.

However, her stated strategies of policing and prosecution have been tried unsuccessfully before. Therefore, police force is not the answer, as former CoP Gary Griffith's "one shot, one kill" policy proved.

Yes, we are on a war footing, with murders, home invasions, violence and robberies taking centre stage. But this war on crime that we were promised has been tried before in other jurisdictions with limited short-term successes.

Many believe it all stems from the war on drugs, which has been ongoing for decades. Nevertheless, despite the billions spent, the drug trade and its accompanying crimes, such as human trafficking and prostitution, continue to flourish. And as fast as drug lords are arrested or killed off, others take their place.

Instead of police and military squads going into homes and neighbourhoods fully armed to the teeth, guns blazing, bringing down fire and brimstone on hot spots, and killing innocent civilians in the crossfire (these lives lost cannot simply be brushed off as casualties of war and written off as collateral damage) we need to adopt a different approach.

The Washington Post states, "Parents, not police, are the key to the drug crisis. Yet today drug and crime policies focus on the wrong institution of social control (the government), treat an inappropriate age category (adults), falsely assume specialisation of offenders, falsely assume a causal connection between drug use and criminal acts, and misperceive the motives of offenders. As long as this continues, no amount of taxpayer's money will win the war on crime."

So how do we fix this existential crime problem where people are so frustrated with their lives that they resort to illegal means of earning a living? We can start by admitting that it is not just an inner-city issue but a nationwide crisis. Everyone must take responsibility for what is happening; we cannot just continue to blame the police.

Utilising our significant resources from oil and gas revenues, we must provide meaningful and fulfilling employment to all people, where they can take pride in who they are and what they do.

It all begins with providing training for our young people, starting at the school level, for jobs in the real world, so they can go directly from school to a job that will allow them to enjoy life and the fruits of honest labour.

Since not everyone is cut out to be scholastically inclined, even those who did not graduate from school can be taught trades where they will enjoy the thrill of bringing home a good pay check that will provide the essentials for an enjoyable existence, which they can be proud of – for that is what keeps families together and crime at a minimum.

We can begin by assigning a national social security number and ID Card at birth, which will be entered into a database, and teach them civic responsibility, which will instil in them pride in their nationality and the right to vote once they come of age. Moreover, all births automatically give babies born here inalienable rights.

No, this is not just Erla's war; this is our war, yours and mine, for we are all vulnerable to the overarching effects of crime. Yes, whoever you are – average citizen, lawyer, doctor, taxi driver, farmer, journalist, bricklayer, et al – if you have done nothing to alleviate the crime paradigm, then you are part of the problem.

Every citizen's civic responsibility is to stop this madness that has engulfed this nation. We each must do our part by being good citizens and good neighbours. However, it all begins with the politicians. In this land of undeniable wealth and resources, no one should ever go hungry or lack necessities and a place to call home.

REX CHOOKOLINGO

rexchook@gmail.com