The Tribune

WHEN it comes to the topic of crime, and especially the ongoing spike in murders the country is experiencing, there are three stories to particularly pay attention to in today’s Tribune.

First, there are the latest three murders that take the death toll for the year to 74. That total came up after three deaths in less than 24 hours – two on Thursday and one on Friday.

That total of 74 has come up in half a year. The record number of murders in a year was in 2015, when 146 murders occurred. We are on course at present to match or exceed that bloody total.

So how did we get here? Well, that’s where the second story today comes in. In today’s Insight section, Malcolm Strachan lays out the history of the nation’s murder totals – and, worse, the politicisation of those tallies.

He points out the days when current Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis, championed the placing of billboards listing the total number of murders under the FNM under the claim of “We cannot hide the truth.”

No billboards when he came into office last time as Deputy Prime Minister, of course. No billboards now.

It’s not down to one side or the other, of course – under the last administration when numbers dropped during COVID lockdowns, claims were made that those measures had nothing to do with the drop. Only, of course, once the measures were lifted, back up went the numbers.

So there are no billboards now – but you know what else is missing? Any kind of voice being raised as we sit on this track towards a record number of killings to say enough is enough, something must be done.

With a half-year total pointing us towards a possible record tally, where is the address by the Prime Minister to say what his government is going to do about it?

Where is the incoming Police Commissioner, Clayton Fernander, to spell out how his leadership will make a difference?

Where is the Minister for National Security, Wayne Munroe, to address the deadly toll on our streets?

For that matter, where is the leader of the Opposition, Michael Pintard, to hold the government to account and demand better?

What do we, the public, even know of the government’s plans to tackle this current gang war-led wave of violence?

We hear talk of results on Shotspotter, but that only tells police when a gun has been fired, rather than being a shot stopper that prevents it being fired in the first place.

We know many of these communities where violence occurs are the same ones over and over again, so where are the aggressive patrols of those areas so that criminals know if they pull a trigger, police are only moments away?

What about the talk of CCTV, ideally linked up to live monitoring in a control room so that officers can be directed to the scene of any crime or, better, to stop suspect vehicles and individuals before the crime takes place?

Why, more to the point, are we not hearing more about what needs to be done to stop this bloodshed? Have we become so accustomed to the violence that we just don’t care enough any more?

One of the areas of concern pointed out recently by the Prime Minister was a backlog of cases that he described as “astronomical”, adding that he felt the system was near collapse.

Mr Davis called on courts to “step up” in regards to hearing murder cases – and yet, his National Security Minister, Mr Munroe, played that down saying trials are more efficient now because of new rules. So which is it? Collapse or improvement?

Perhaps a clue to the priorities of the government lies in the third story in today’s Tribune to take note of.

Despite Mr Davis identifying a problem with court backlogs, Chief Justice Brian Moree points out that the Court Services Bill has not yet passed in the House.

Justice Moree said the Davis administration supports the bill, but they have a very “busy legislative agenda and they haven’t yet gotten to it”.

Haven’t gotten to it. A system near collapse and they haven’t gotten to it. Murdered bodies piling up on the streets and they haven’t gotten to it. Just as our nation’s leaders on all sides haven’t gotten up to speak out on the subject.

We face the prospect of the bloodiest year in our nation’s history – and it looks like no one cares.