#talktalktalk

Perhaps it is in the finger-pointing way leadership treats with the subject of crime; or perhaps it is the strangely non-pivotal issues with which the public discussions become obsessed, such as the cost of toilets for “remandees;” or perhaps it is the daily juxtaposition in the media of reported statements by politicians, demands for the resignation of key criminal justice officials and the gory details of death by violence.

The overall impact is chaotic. All we see is politicking at the expense of citizen insecurity.

On the one hand, there is a feeding frenzy taking place within the Judiciary on a matter of huge importance to our confidence in the justice system.

Surely, if those involved had any semblance of concern for the institution, beyond the headline-grabbing rhetoric, efforts would have been made to challenge the manner in which things were done by the Judicial and Legal Service Commission through other channels before taking the issue immediately to the brink with legal action and scary rhetoric about the survival of the administration of justice.

There is no doubt that whatever has caused the restarting of 53 cases is deeply worrying and of public concern, but such statements serve to embolden criminal activity and to weaken citizen confidence, while often intended to strengthen political positioning.

The core concern of what is the fate of all those affected in the 53 outstanding cases must be dealt with quickly and decisively, even while the issues of how decisions are made on the appointment of judges is closely examined, bearing in mind the objective of confidence building through transparency and accountability.

The ridiculous proposition that bodies in need of forensic examination should be ferried over to Trinidad via the embattled sea bridge from Tobago, certainly did not inspire confidence in the reliability of autopsies, also a key aspect of criminal justice. That situation at least seems to have benefitted from a quick response.

However, foot-dragging of immense proportions offsets these small demonstrations of effective action. Remand yard has given fodder for public statement making for decades. Of course “remandees” are restless, and the physical situation in which they are kept, euphemistically described as a “cramped environment,” is a human rights violation in and of itself.

The core problem for which there has been much talk and no discernible change over many administrations is not the replacing of buckets with toilets, it is addressing the shocking delays in the criminal justice system that has accused people languishing in inhumane conditions for up to 15 and 20 years, as a stopgap measure for criminal justice.

On another front, the media are being accused of “co-conspiracy” on the current increase in crime, which really is a valueless comment thrown in to a generally underwhelming debate on “the rising crime epidemic.” Apparently, according to one news report, the author of the statement ran out of time to make recommendations. Pity, recommendations tend to be quite useful for building strategy, although we all know that to make recommendations requires greater effort to compile, justify and explain.

These are hard and perilous times, yes, we got that part of the narrative, and there are all kinds of forces impacting negatively on the crime situation. OK, we understand that too, but what’s the plan? Talk us through what you have in mind and why, and tell us what evidence you used to arrive at that strategy. Play to our intelligence, you may be surprised how effective that could be in gaining our support to overcome collective challenges.