THE reimplementation of Swift Justice is a significant plank in the government's "Safe Bahamas" anti-crime plan, Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson said.
Speaking at the re-launch of Swift Justice, Mrs Maynard-Gibson said the initiative is part of what Prime Minister Perry Christie called the most aggressive and significant assault ever upon crime in the Bahamas.
She said: "Our mandate from the Bahamian people is to wage an unrelenting war on crime and the social issues which give rise to crime."
The attorney general noted that when first launched in June 2006, Swift Justice was a pilot project of 80 cases which the Department of Public Prosecutions sought to move through the justice system as efficiently as possible, an approached sometimes called 'integrated justice'.
At the time, she said: "Integrated justice facilitates collaboration between the institutions and agencies within the justice system including probation, the police, the courts, the prison and of course the Attorney General's Office.
"Indeed, we have decided to extend this concept to include family victims. Representatives from families who are living through the nightmare of horrific crimes sit on the swift justice advisory committee."
Mrs Maynard-Gibson said this approach "strengthens the team spirit" as representatives from each of the partnership agencies meet with the attorney general once a week to ensure improved communication and effective implementation of plans and responsibilities.
She said: "The integrated Swift Justice programme facilitates accountability. Our team will be well positioned to proactively identify and respond to the lack of performance or weaknesses in the system.
"The integrated Swift Justice programme strengthens transparency. Justice must always be seen to be done. It is in our national interest to protect the integrity of our justice system.
"It will cultivate the environment of trust and confidence in the Attorney General's Office, the pre-eminent chamber of law."
Mrs Maynard-Gibson said that through Swift Justice, the government has committed to:
Concentrate on the effective management of serious cases (especially murder) from the investigative stage.
Have all murder cases committed since May, 2012 tried within a year of the commission of the offence.
Have persons who attack a member of a disciplined force, a judicial officer or any other person involved in the administration of justice tried within six months of the commission of the offence.
Review existing murder cases to determine those which are heinous in nature and warrant the death penalty. These cases will be dealt with expeditiously at every level in the courts.
Ensure that backlog cases are put in a state of readiness and prosecuted expeditiously.
Implement the Integrated Justice System to establish automation and connectivity of all the stakeholders in the criminal justice system.
Revitalise and strengthen the Witness Protection Programme.
Report regularly to the public.
Provide the means by which victims can be notified when accused persons have been released on bail.
Comments
JohnBrown 12 years, 6 months ago
Talk is cheep Allyson. And you as a politician, have been talking that talk and walking that walk as one big pontificator of political hot air and nothing more from Washiongton, D.C. straight through the hallowed halls of supposed justice in Bahamas for quite some time. I am going to try - in the following postings - to lead you and yours in the right direction.
JohnBrown 12 years, 6 months ago
How To Create A Relatively Crime-Free Productive Bahamian Society
Dear Mr Christie and cohorts, the three prong program outlined below must be implement over the course of the next six months, and it does not include the use of police men from other jurisdictions, just simple common sense which is not common. Effective immediately, convicted criminals shall be entitled to an appeal system that affords them no more than thirty extra days of the court’s time period – win, lose or draw. Justice must be swift and meaningful to all parties affected. Furthermore, upon conviction, a criminal shall surrenders most if not all of their citizenship rights regarding fair treatment as a human being and then ones only recourse shall be rehabilitation through daily hard labour and such relief as the cat-o’-nine tail shall offer. This means that in short order all convicted criminals shall be relegated to hard labour, toiling for ten hours daily on massive agricultural venues. Thereafter, never again shall a criminal receive or be motivated to seek a free lunch from society, but with humility that one will serve as a tool to resurrect and maintain a booming Bahamian agricultural industry. No wiggle room or special protection shall be provided for deviant police officers, prison officers, politicians, economist, bankers, religious personalities or entities, healthcare professionals, or secret order criminals. You stand now between a rock and a hard place.
The first prong:
JohnBrown 12 years, 6 months ago
a) A bill must be enacted into law which provides that any and all sentences for Torts that have a criminal aspect and/or any petty criminal acts shall require the convicted individual to serve a mandatory minimum term of 5 years hard labour on an Agricultural Chain Gang (ACG). For example, if an individual drives their car into a parked vehicle because of brakes failure, a civil wrong or tort has occurred. However, if that same person while driving a car experienced brake failure and crashes into a parked automobile, after having consumed more alcohol than the legal limit, not only has a tort been committed but also a crime. Should there be a chain gang for a Tort with a criminal aspect to it? Yes, because a chain gang would work wonders for the healing of the mind, body and spirit, while constantly reminding those convicts, their families and our nation of the seriousness of the gift of life! When forced to walk silently on egg shells or rice paper one acquires a higher sense of respect for self and others, at arms length. Hard labour while baking in the hot sun could serve to effectively rehabilitate a criminal or release them from their shackles through an untimely demise from sun stroke. Other minor infractions subjected to such an act of law will include shoplifting, purse snatching, simple assault, motor-vehicle theft, house breaking, receiving stolen goods, selling stolen goods, stealing from your employer, simple violations of public trust (lying to a police officer or an officer of the court) and all first time white collar offenders. Their work day will be from dusk to dawn.
b) Any and all convictions for violent crime such as murder and criminal homicide (voluntary manslaughter), forcible rape, aggravated assault, robbery and arson, gross violations of public trust (where a public official commits fraud, knowingly makes a false arrest, lies to the court or defrauds the general public in a harmful manner or where a person of the general public purges oneself in a court of law) they will begin by receiving a minimum sentence of thirty years with added time up and to a life sentence based on the severity, savageness and brutality of the event. Such violent or heinous criminal convicts will also be relegated to the ACG for the duration of their sentence. Nevertheless, where there is evidenced of criminal homicide or premeditated murder such person (s) when convicted shall be put to death by hanging or lethal injection, without preference, to any secret order affiliations which they might have nor shall they be entitled to receive any form of preferred treatment or mercy from the Privy Council, the United States or any other appeals court or body outside of the jurisdiction of the Bahamas. Neither shall we ask for or accept any advice from glory-seeking attorneys from Amnesty international regarding what is fair or just treatment for prisoners of our sovereign nation. If we do not stand on our own two feet we shall fall on our faces.
JohnBrown 12 years, 6 months ago
The second prong
Firstly you must use your new government’s power of eminent domain to seize and clear with tractors two five square miles tracts of land: one plot in Eleuthera (between Savannas Sound and Tarpum bay) and the other in Northern Abaco (just outside Coopers Town), which will be used as a key part of your crime prevention and reduction initial models. Upon each plot of land, during your first three months in office, you must immediately erect two buildings separated by about fifty yards: a modern prison and a prison guards’ housing quarters for officers while regulating the ACG prisoners.
a) Each of the two prisons must be able to house five hundred prisoners in two person cells with basic amenities. There would be a dining room which could feed up to 200 inmates over the course of a twenty minute period, and a sewage system that could pump environmentally friendly waste into the ocean on the north side of each Island.
b) The prison officers quarters shall be able to accommodate 150 prison guards, each living in a single bedroom with a private shower, toilet and television. Under normal conditions, in this three storied guards quarters there would only be 100 to 120 fit and on the ready, alert prison guards, reporting to a superior officer and a deputy on location at all times.
c) There shall be a first aid centre where a doctor and a nurse shall provide reasonable care to a prisoner’s injuries upon the recommendation of the superior officer or his deputy. The doctor and nurse shall be afforded accommodations equal to those of the prison guards, along with a shared government vehicle for them to leave the compound and recreate from time to time in local village, during the period of their renewable annual service contract.
JohnBrown 12 years, 6 months ago
d) All prison guards shall be properly trained in jujitsu or aikido and in the effective and efficient use of three types of weapons: B&T TP 9mm; FN P90, and a double barrel shot gun, one of which they shall be required to carry during their work shift. Prison officers shall be rotated between the Fox hill, Abaco, and Eleuthera prison facilities every 90 days. They will be trained to shoot to kill if ever resisting prisoners pose a threat of escape through an uprising or insurrection or in any manner threaten the lives of officers. Where there are one or two rebellious inmates who are not killed on the spot, they shall be administered the cat-o-nine- tail with diligence, in an amount prescribed by the superior officer in charge at the time. Pain generally accelerates learning, as it was from the day of birth. This recommendation does in anyway seek to imply a that the fathers and mothers of such rebels were bad parents or that they did not give all that they could towards guiding such resisters into the upright path. Therefore, our government shall especially remember such victimized mothers and give them on mothers day some flowers in honour of their past well intentions and in sympathy for their suffering, as their offsprings endures a life altering learning experience.
e) Finally, as a facilitator, your government must help small business farmers with loans and technical know-how, for them to return to their farms and take pride in developing quality produce, which would ensure their continued success. Such a bold strategy would require the aid of Bahamian marketing experts committed under oath to establish premium buyers and guaranteeing the picking of mature shippable green fruit and vegetables destined for African, Canadian and European countries, by air or by sea. We as a nation shall commit to never again scorning or wasting food, but before any food products starts to spoil, we shall give it away to the needy.
The Third Prong
JohnBrown 12 years, 6 months ago
a) The Bahamas government should not encourage or force citizens to make any decisions on ill conceived referendums concerning oil drilling – after you have slept with the enemy (ruthless oil scavengers) regarding oil deposits that lay within the territory of the Bahamas – for the next ten years. With a scarcity of resources world wide, the price of such oil could only escalate in the next ten years. Why such an frantic big black gold oil rush? Does your oil masters that might have assisted you in the past elections have your head on a chopping block? Is there a time table for you to pay to the piper? Have you made promises to multi-nationals that you can not keep? My friend, If oil is there, it will be there until such time as we have succeeded in establishing a sustainable high quality of living for most Bahamian, based on our Agriculture and Fisheries industries. Those are the talents that God gave us Bahamians, and the same ones that have been neglected and squandered by politicians for far too long, under the guise of entertainment, tourism and having fun serving Lucifer- the father of the lie – while our people starve. “My people perish from a lack of knowledge”, Hosea 4:6 (KJV).
b) The responsible thing to do is to immediately purchase four fit for purpose fishing trawlers between 150 to 200 feet long: one fishing vessel will operate out of each of four island Andros, Abaco, Nassau, and Eleuthera. All young Bahamians 21 or older will be eligible for training to be a crew member and/or work in the fishing industry. The fishermen onboard this fleet of Bahamian fishing boats shall be commissioned as look-outs or care takers of the fishing industry: this means that they shall be duty-bound by oath to alert the Royal Defence Force to any infringements, theft of fish or fishing opportunities that unauthorized fishing vessels, poachers, human traffickers, drug traffickers, arms traffickers or any illegalities that are being advanced within Bahamian territorial waters. This means that a six to eight week intensive, but thorough trawler operational training programs will have to be completed by the crew of new fishermen. Simultaneously, you must start the construction of one large scaled modern fish hatchery on each of the four above named islands, under the capable guidance of Bahamian oceanographers, marine life scientists, and environmental experts. The final aspect of the this third prong or degree program shall be the international marketing of our fish to a universe of discriminating fish lovers plates within 24 hours of being caught. This would require skilled marketing experts to establish contracts for daily purchases and prompt delivery of fresh Grouper, Jacks, Grunts, Porgies, Tuna, Blue Marlins, Sailfishes, Swordfishes, Turbots and Yellowtail Snappers to African, North American, European and Asian countries of the world.
JohnBrown 12 years, 6 months ago
In conclusion, if you should let common sense, moral responsibility, and prudent judgement govern your actions, Mr Prime Minister, the Bahamian economic, political, and social system might be rescued from the jaws of self-destruction. A smile, sign, allegory or a pat on the back wont cut the mustard at this time. I say that to say this, we both know well the dangerous risks associated with the destruction of the tourism industry that could occur from oil drilling in our waters. Or have you quickly forgotten BP’s most recent blunders? Who got screwed the most by that event? Was it not the American fishermen, restaurant owners and small business men? Do you believe that the Bahamas will stand for such immediate foolishness? Are we to believe that as the Bahamian society accelerate along its course of disintegration due to bad judgements, that there will be some special safety line extended to you, yours, and our people by those ruthless, greed driven oil sharks during an inevitable crisis? Well, think again.
Our hatcheries and agricultural activity shall guarantee us fish, fruits, vegetables , and employment for many life times to come, even after the oceans of the world are without fish in 2050. If we act responsibly now, we shall be able to not only feed our nation, but continue to assist in feeding the world at a premium with our fresh fruits, vegetables and fish products. “We’ve got to use what we’ve got to get just what we want!” The people want self sufficiency not elaborate excuses and this should be the aim of this government: next to zero unemployment. Such can be achieved not only through having large half full hotels, but through responsible and safe cultivation and maintenance of our fishing and agriculture resources. A near crime free society based on sensible, realistic opportunities for self actualization being afforded all members of our society, or the choice to suffer pain-filled consequences. And do remember, Sir, that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. One should be very careful with all the supposed money deals, glory and glamour that one might seemingly acquire, for if a man does not have peace of mind, then it was all for naught. Your comment is awaiting moderation.
John 12 years, 6 months ago
To solve the crime problem in New Providence govern=ment must address social and economic problems at the same time. The problem is that the Population in Providence is growing at an unmanageable rate and has already passed its saturation point in many areas. Persons cannot go about their normal business without bumping into persons they have conflicts with and this usually ends in someone being killed or seriously injured.
Not only must government seek to stop the crowding of persons into this island from the family islands and the influx of illegal immigrants from around the world, but it must also seek to manage and 'thin out' the population. This must be done in areas like Bain and Grants Town. Elglerston, Pinewood Gardens, Nassau Village among others.
The island needs to be segmented in terms of jobs, social and essential services shopping etc so that persons who live in one section of the island does not have to travel to other parts of the island on a daily or regular basis. Not unlike persons who live in fort lauderdale does not have to go to maimi on a daily basis.
Another thing the government may consider is colordoding license plates. Lets say the island is dividen into 4-6 zones eastern western, northern and southern districts. Then there can also be central and maybe paradise island. Each zone will have a different color coded license plate. That way police and ordinary citizens can identify vehicles that do not reside in their area, especially after hours. this will also help in other situaitons, hit and run accidents, for example.
Government must also find sustainable employment for those who are more inclined to do manual labor as opposed to being book smart. As the road projects have proven, these persons are willing to work when they can find suitable employment.
JohnBrown 12 years, 6 months ago
A key requirement for restoring our Bahamas to a paradise, other than through intensive pain treatment across the board is to maxamize the utilization of upstanding citizens with a record of using wisdom and common sense selflessly for the masses - not men or women made in secret or obligated individuals, but rather those with solid business experience irrespective of whether they have a high school diploma or not - they should be allowed to fill at least 50% of the seats in the House of Assembly. Unfortunately, it seems as though common sense is lost in while obtaining a law degree and replaced with greed. Now concerning one of the the leading character represented her today, It must be the ressurection or might this be her official beginning campaign speech towards becoming the next Prime Minister in 2016. What a grand time that would be, as she is recorded into history as the first official Bahamian female to assend to such glory and pain. I am far from impressed with the fact that Mini mouse finally roared forth volumes of words unsubstantiated by actions, but used in concert with the word mandate...a nice code word. Its like stroking the word INTERESTING across the table.
John 12 years, 6 months ago
Bahamians living in New Providence are still in culture shock. They have lost their identity. in less than a decade or two, their home island has been transformed to a sleeply, peace4ful little island town to an overcrowded, crime infested, metropolotatian city ranked by violence and all the other vices common to New Pork, Philly, LA. There are the gangs, the drugs, the gambling, over abanduance of casual sex, traffiac congestion, almost 20 radio stations blasting vulgarity and gang music in your ear drums 24/7 (one time ago they use to go religious until 12 noon on Sundays). Getting anything done is a complete hassle, and everyone is one screw from loosing it. Parents and kids party together (some share the same sex partners and joints) and government leaders seem clueless of how to clean up the scsspool most of New Providence has become. Murder is the daily headline and when one doesn't happen everyone starts to wonder why? what happen?
MartGM 12 years, 6 months ago
agreed!!
concernedcitizen 12 years, 6 months ago
its our sexual habits and lack of morals coming home to roost ........our murder rate is higher per cap.. than new york...
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