Thwarting preventable murders

I refer to domestic violence murders. Then there are those which occur because of family disputes over property and land.

Equally preventable are the murders that happen because a relative has a mental condition that is not being adequately monitored.

This person could just erupt and kill everyone in the family home.

Relatives, friends and neighbours can see the problems brewing for many years but say and do nothing.

Fast forward to an actual murder and it is a mad scramble to attend the funeral. The main topic at the wake is, “Man, is years I could see this murder happening. It was only a matter of time before they kill one another.” Murder has become a spectator sport.

Then we move on to the other preventable but murky area of police shootings.

How many police are trained to shoot but seem incapable of hitting the suspect in only an arm or a leg? There is more angst for the poor policeman than for the relatives of the deceased because he/she must have been a dangerous criminal.

According to the Police Service Social and Welfare Association, it is not usually the fault of the poor overworked and underpaid policemen and women.

I now change channels when I see association officials being interviewed.

Until they can step up on results that show a reasonable detect-and-solve rate I do not particularly want to hear them.

LYNETTE JOSEPH Diego Martin