Crime is plaguing all parts of this nation. The population cries out, “the Police must do something,” “the Government must do something.” Everybody is saying that somebody must do something to halt and then reduce crime’s growth. These cries have reached an almost religious-like fervour where as a nation we are waiting for a Saviour. While we cry for a Saviour, we fail to see that we are daily sowing the seeds of our own destruction.
Many studies on why crime occurs exist. One popular theory suggests crime was occurring because of unemployment. In Trinidad parlance, it was often said: “When man belly empty what he go do? He must thief.” Now, we see people retreating from that stance as we have record low unemployment numbers and yet high levels of crime occur. We see people being arrested for crimes and reading that they were employed at XYZ company or corporation. Thus, the theory of crime and unemployment is proving to be more myth than reality.
When younger and studying in the USA, it annoyed me that when I went to the beach or park I could not carry or have exposed bottles of alcohol. I often told my friends that life in Trinidad was different—I could walk the street and drink a beer or carry rum to the beach. In T&T, we had real freedom to do almost anything we wanted. Within that so-called freedom, which is often based on a thinking of what I want to do rather than what we need to do, lies the seeds of our destruction.
In the USA, also, was the need when driving to be always watching the speedometer to ensure that I did not exceed the speed limit as there was a high probability of being caught. I often thought how wonderful it would be back in Trinidad where I could put my foot down and let the car run as fast as I dared to go with little chance of being caught.
Even today, I can fly down the highway with little chance of being caught.
In many respects we are free here to do almost anything. This breeds a degree of lawlessness which stems from a belief that I can do anything and without any consequences. This freedom results in the lack of a moral compass, or conversely, at times, the lack of a moral compass leads us to do anything we want. It is bolstered by the belief that there are no consequences. This belief in turn leads to the robbery, murder, burglary and other crimes that plague us; the very crimes that we cry out for relief from.
Yet we fail to see that the seeds of that plague were sown in the belief that we must be free to do whatever we want.
The technology for cost-effectively catching speeding drivers has existed for many years. Just next door, Barbados uses radar speed guns to enforce their road speed limits. Yet in T&T for some unknown reason, we seem reluctant to implement it. Our legislators talk about it but then do not implement it.
Several years ago driving a borrowed car in Switzerland a friend and I drove through a red traffic light.
Immediately my friend said that the car’s owner will shortly receive a ticket in the mail. Unaware of the technology, I asked how that could be. My friend explained about the camera connected to the traffic light that would have taken a picture of the vehicle licence plate as we drove through the red light. Now contrast that with T&T where our legislators install a similar camera system almost next to the Parliament and report on the hundreds who drive through the red light.
Yet there are no actions to legalise and implement such a system for the enforcement of the law.
Recently, a newspaper article noted business owners objecting to the introduction of parking restrictions. Their rationale being that it would hurt their business by reducing sales. They were objecting on the basis of their narrow self-interest and not seeing how this ultimately hurts the national good. They wanted people to have the freedom to park on the streets.
Almost every major city in the world has traffic congestion and has recognised the need to control vehicle parking through a variety of measures ranging from parking meters, clamping vehicles and removal of vehicles. The cities’ occupants accept that such measures are necessary. Yet in Trinidad, we want people to be free to park on the street at any time, on any side because we perceive that without that our business is hurt.
However, we fail to see how this and other so called “freedoms” breed the mentality that breeds the crime that hurts our business even more.
It is not that we do not have examples of how introducing controls benefits the overall society. We have been a nation of alcohol drinkers, saying that we can consume and still safely drive our vehicle. However, with the breathalyser’s introduction and enforcement of penalties for those found driving while over the legal limit, we have begun to see a behaviour change.
We see people (not all) limiting their alcohol consumption when driving or stopping drinking alcohol a certain time before they have to drive. We are witnessing people choosing to hire a taxi or having a designated driver. These behavioural changes are directly related to the fact that there is a scientific method of determining transgressions of the law, but even more importantly, there is enforcement of the penalties.
People know there are clear consequences for violating the law and a high probability of being caught.
There are consequences for murder, theft and rape but in the present Trinidad, circumstances like these seem to be in theory because of the low detection rate.
However, the seeds of these acts have been sown when, for even for smaller crimes, there are no apparent consequences. They germinate in the mind and grow into more heinous crimes that we now cry out for relief from.
We may not be able to completely eradicate the plants that have already reached full growth.
However, we can stop sowing fresh seeds by stopping talking and instead acting on implementing those things needed for detection followed by consequences.
Contact the Caribbean Institute for Security and Public Safety at 223-6999, 222-8347, info@caribbeansecurityinstitute.com or www.caribbeansecurityinstitute.com for its wide range of courses for your organisation and you.
Brian Ramsey
MBA, Chairman, CISPS
