Thousands of criminals left loose every year

LAWLESSNESS is the culture which embraces and nourishes crime and it is far worse than crime, according to criminologist and Independent Senator Dr Ramesh Deosaran. In a lecture delivered Thursday evening in Port-of-Spain, Deosaran said lawlessness reflects the breakdown of obedience, tolerance, respect and civility in a society. He said it is also demonstrated when politicians tolerate or even tacitly support some acts, or when laws and regulations are amended to correct corporate wrongs.

Dr Deosaran is calling for statutory State agencies responsible for law, order and citizen safety, to have their performance subjected to benchmarks and to be held accountable for poor performance. He also wants more equity in the distribution of laws from the police to the courts. Speaking on “Crime, Lawlessness and Politics,” at the John Clifford Sealy Memorial Foundation lecture at St Mary’s College, Dr Deosaran warned that if lawlessness is not dealt with, crime will never be reduced or controlled. He said in 2002 the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had only three of the 18 lawyers required in the criminal department and 15 of the 27 needed in the civil department and there was an overall 60 percent vacancy rate “in the face of rising crime and public disorder.”

Deosaran said other statistics show that of all serious crimes reported, only ten percent result in a conviction, so that 90 percent of serious crimes “are left with unpunished offenders, meaning thousands of criminals are left loose every year.” Deosaran said there was an 80 percent rate of repeat offenders and recidivism, those who are imprisoned once and commit crimes again, was around 60 percent. He said 1998 research showed at the four busy traffic centres, Chaguanas, Curepe, Croisee and Independence Square, a total of 206 traffic violations occurred within five hours. He said with 52 violations for every hour, not one led to a charge being laid. As a matter of fact, Deosaran added, only twice during the five-hour period was a police officer seen.

He said police records show that the number of serious crimes reported increased by 300 percent from 1962 to 2002, “from 300 per 100,000 persons to more than 1,300 to 100,000 persons.” He said minor offences were hardly being reported. “Unreported crimes, both serious and minor, form the dark shadow of black-market lawlessness.” In terms of prisoners, 98 percent were from poor homes and usually unskilled women were left behind with numerous children “which contributes heavily to our growing culture of lawlessness, giving some truth to the saying that poverty is a cause of crime.” He said male prisoners left behind more than 8,000 children with distressed mothers and as a result there was a “culture for lawlessness, an imprisoned cycle of poverty and a bright future for further crime and lawlessness.”