Crime plan — where?

THE EDITOR: One hundred and three murders in one hundred and eleven days and still no known crime plan. Another shootout in the heart of the city at high noon that left one man dead and an innocent woman injured — still no plan. At this point there is nothing new to be said really — nothing different as continuous proposals and pleas to the authorities are made to no avail. Fed up and frightened citizens usually followed up with well-deserved doses of chastisement that conjure more and more lame responses — only response and no credible action.

The Government recently conveyed of the decision to hire Mr Mastrofski, a US criminologist. This was almost two months ago. What is the current status of that initiative? Heinous crime has long been out of control and is the nation’s foremost problem. When a murder is carried out one hundred yards from a police post at lunchtime in the busiest part of town in full view of scores of people, it tells a story. It means that criminals have no regard for law enforcers and it’s as if law and order never existed. The young woman who was shot by a stray bullet was lucky to come away with her life and so were many others going about their business in this ill-fated land of 2020 fallacies and hopelessness.

Due to the gravity of the crime menace, Mr Mastrofski and his experts should have already been hard at work and providing viable solutions. Yet again, the public was given a scrap to keep them quiet and then nothing more is heard. The time for procrastination is over. How many more must die before crime is given the attention it deserves in this country? Where must the murder rate reach for real action— one a day? It is abundantly obvious that the current regime is not only clueless with regards to arresting the upsurge in crime but rather lackadaisical in putting hired assistance to work. Maybe the National Security Ministry would find it easier to afford bullet-proof jackets to person without criminal records. And should the relevant authority find that statement ridiculous, then a similar finding must be attributed to the continuous inability to effectively deal with the crime dilemma.

DEXTER  J  RIGSBY
Mt Lambert