The Tribune

ON Monday, August 21, shaken by the third murder in two days, Minister of National Security Marvin Dames convened a meeting of senior police officers, including the current but reportedly soon to be erstwhile Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade. He asked them to reveal their strategy for fighting violent crime and the criminal activity that ends in murder or attempted murder. We have no doubt that the senior police officers in that room gave the National Security Minister the best briefing they had to offer.

Mr Dames, a former high-ranking and extremely well-educated officer himself, listened intently and acted. Without hesitation, he instructed them to redouble their efforts. He also ordered 24-hour senior command attention. A 24/7 scourge cannot be treated by a 9-5 job clock. When Mr Dames emerged from the internal meeting, he addressed media and announced a stepped up effort by police and a crackdown on crime, pledging that he would make it “very uncomfortable” for anyone engaged in a life of criminality. He chose his words carefully, sending a warning “out to all those persons who continue to live a life of crime – moving forward we intend to make your life very uncomfortable,” he said. “We will use every resource at our disposal to ensure that you are made to account for your wrongdoings. This is a promise.”

It is a very provocative promise and a very tall order. But if Minister of National Security Marvin Dames performs on the promise he made, he will be remembered in history as No-Games Dames. More importantly, he could change the future of The Bahamas. This is serious business and we believe that if anyone can succeed, Dames is the right man for the job but what a task he has ahead of him. He can put the fear of God into many, but how will he change the underlying culture of crime that pervades The Bahamas like a cancer that rejects the treatment that could cure it.

The country is riddled with crime. From the petty thief who walks out with candy in his pocket to the Cabinet minister who extorts cash to award a contract, from the 11-year-old on the block who readily accepts a few dollars for delivering a package of what he knows is marijuana to the man who has Armani suits in his closet and runs a series of houses where prostitution, drugs and parties are weekend regulars, crime is everywhere. Crime knows no geographic or socio-economic borders. Its impact is felt in every community, its fear or its reality touching nearly every single person living in The Bahamas.

Mr Dames has no recourse but to identify, blame and shame offenders, many of whom are going to be in the Royal Bahamas Police Force. Reports come to this newspaper on a regular basis of police-involved parties with prostitutes. Witnesses and neighbours are afraid to report the activities for fear of retribution so they continue unabated in otherwise respectable neighbourhoods like Skyline Drive, Eastern Road, Winton where suspicious activities are not suspected. Police are reluctant to rat on their own and they may not even know who is present at these sordid events with undocumented women largely from Jamaica, Cuba and Dominica of their own accord, or who is raking in some of the money and who is their undercover. Rooting out corruption within the department is going to require outside eyes and assistance. The life of any officer who points a finger at another will be in jeopardy and so long as that is the case, there will be little or no whistleblowers in blue, white or khaki.

Mr Dames is the first and most critical step in ridding the country of the crime culture. The Justice system under the Attorney General’s office and the anti-corruption unit is of equal importance. While no one revels in the sight of a former Cabinet minister in handcuffs, the law must be allowed to take its full course without political interference of any kind. We hope that in the cases where there is a conviction, the guilty will be made to pay retribution and required to do community service that involves physical labour and public soul-searching. A once high-flying hotshot who is now dressed in overalls on his knees, digging holes in the ground, assisting with a farming programme at a school will be a warning to others who might have considered bribery or extortion as a way to do government business.

We will not be so presumptuous as to suggest whether the courts should dole out prison sentences to those who once governed but we do believe that, if convicted, they should be publicly and repeatedly shamed. Photos of those who learned the hard way now doing ‘time’ as repentance or penance will send a powerful message. Their lessons of greed must not be buried or forgotten because they are embarrassing. They must become part of Bahamian history, taught in schools and preached from pulpits.

It is one thing to make a promise and another to deliver. It all starts with you, Mr Dames. No-Games Dames, a lot is resting on your shoulders. We wish you every success and the strength it will take to change this nation so that random killings and drug-infested shacks begin to disappear, replaced daily by random acts of kindness. We know that most Bahamians are good in heart and soul and this country is begging for a recovery from the cancer of crime.