Crime concerns ongoing

In the midst of the ongoing national concern about deadly crimes being committed with few persons charged, as well as the drug trafficking scourge contaminating the entire Caribbean region, recent statements by the top brass of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) are hardly comforting.

Now let us make it clear that we are in full support of the Police in their very difficult battle to combat such crimes, and we commend the improved willingness to communicate, but that does not absolve us of the responsibility to raise issues which our citizens find to be troubling.

For instance, a story in last Friday’s edition of this newspaper quoting Acting Commissioner of Police,  Enville Williams as saying that the investigation into the murder of a woman at Dorsetshire Hill in July of 2023 is still “active”. No one has been charged with that crime so far. The Commissioner was responding to a concern raised by a brother of the murdered woman. However, while that was a specific reaction, there are many other unsolved murders, and relatives of those who have been murdered continue to ask questions. It would be good if the Police, as a necessary element of the improved willingness to communicate, would reveal how many unsolved murders, say over the past decade, are still “under active investigation” and what is being done to further the investigative process, even as we acknowledge that there are certain things which may need to remain temporarily undisclosed. The problem may not lie with the Police alone, but at least we need to get some reassurance that leads are being actively pursued. This may involve seeking external assistance as was promised some years ago. While there is a generalised tendency to lump all crimes together, especially for political purposes, it is true to say that the rate of gun crimes is our biggest concern.

These seem to be occurring in particular localities and among a certain section of our society. Perhaps knowledge of this is what prompted the country’s leading crime-fighting officer to disclose that the police have identified the presence of “gangs”, operating here, armed gangs it would appear. But are we satisfied simply to acknowledge this? What are we doing about this worrying development?

In contrast to what some would have us believe, the problem is not one that is singular to St Vincent and the Grenadines. Trinidad and Tobago continues to lead the way down this path, and our neighbour St Lucia is suffering from this deadly plague as well. Interestingly, just after the new leadership of the Police there announced that it had drafted a new plan to tackle such crimes, there occurred a spate of murders.

There is no easy or ready-made solution to what continues to be a complex and dangerous social problem. We have tried two amnesties which, based on results, have not worked. We therefore should not try to whitewash this palpable failure. Not just the Police or Government either. The attitudes in our society need to be seriously re-examined. We have to stop hypocritically proffering excuses for such violent criminal behaviour and must face the facts squarely. We need to get our priorities right and make a concerted national effort to find ways to work together to combat this evil in our midst.