Passing buck on crime

In this scenario everyone is turning to the Government for protection while the Government on the other hand is attributing blame to the police for their incompetence and the Opposition for not supporting the Police Reform Bills. Government, however, refuses to acknowledge its own bizarre failure to govern and to curb crime as evidenced by its myriad hopeless initiatives such as Anaconda etc. While the Government blames the police, the police say they are bereft of tools and equipment to fight crime. And so, the passing of the buck continues while the city burns and the citizens are being robbed, kidnapped and murdered on a daily basis.

And what is the solution is the question every citizen is asking. Let me say that there is no press button solution or quick fixes to this massive problem. Criminals do not fall from the sky. They are the product of our society. The criminals of today were not born yesterday. Indeed, they are all adults. The criminals have been nurtured and developed by government after government.

The scientific analysis of the cause of crime is basically poverty and destitution resulting from the failure on the part of successive governments to address a situation that has escalated into a hydro-headed monster. But then, who is the government?

The government is the servant or agent of the people, elected by the people to administer their affairs. A government is elected by the people. It is said, and, indeed empirical evidence supports this, that people get the government/s they deserve.

The Government holds the view that the crime situation is being overblown by the people and as a consequence is, therefore, quite prepared to hoodwink the masses by political rhetoric and the importation of foreign experts at tremendous costs, all no doubt designed to delude the people.

Criminals live in areas which are well known to the police. Criminals are a small bunch of persons and if the Government, the police and army are truly committed to ridding the country of them then the mission could be accomplished without much difficulty. A check of the court and prison records will show the addresses of all persons released from prison. Such persons could then be easily monitored. On the other hand, there are those who are at large but whose addresses are well known or ought to be known to the police. Indeed, the movement of such persons could easily be monitored by informants and police officers out of uniform. With proper surveillance and intelligence, the crime situation could be brought under swift and efficient control bearing in mind that our population is just 1.3 million people and the land space is not difficult to traverse.

However, the million dollar question is whether the Government or police is committed to ridding the country of criminals or establishing bench marks as Professor Ramesh Deosaran pointed out recently, particularly when the Government and the police are themselves part of the crime syndrome.

R GANESH
Railway Road
California