Speaker of the House Halson Moultrie. File Photo: Terrel W. Carey Sr/Tribune Staff
By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Senior Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
HOUSE Speaker Halson Moultrie said the country needs a “systemic improvement in the entire criminal justice system” after the dead bodies of a mother and daughter in his constituency were found yesterday.
“It seems from the information I’ve been able to glean so far that it appears to be some domestic violence, some love triangle that went very wrong,” he said.
“I had a chance to speak to the father of the young girl that was murdered and, of course, he’s distraught about everything. What we’re trying to do as a result of this recent spur of murders, particularly as it relates to young people, is to see if we could bring the community together.”
The killing of the eight-year-old girl yesterday is the second child killing this month. Another Nassau Village child, Reyes Williams, seven, was killed on September 20 during a drive-by shooting outside his home.
Speaker Moultrie said the country should do more to deal with repeat offenders, illegal gun trafficking and to prevent people suspected of serious crimes from being given bail.
“While I agree that you should have a speedy trial and you should be released if you don’t have your trial in a reasonable time, I don’t accept that we are putting the mechanisms in place to prioritise certain types of crime,” he said.
“Violence against the person, rape, murders, should be prioritised and brought before the court as quickly as possible. I believe that repeat offenders, particularly who have been convicted, should be put in a special category when it comes to applications for bail.
“We just need to find a way to speed up the process. You can’t have a circumstance where someone is charged with a serious crime and there is 18 months, three years before you can proceed with a trial date. You can’t have someone waiting that long when he or she can be innocent. We need a systemic improvement in the entire criminal justice system particularly with respect to serious crimes against the person.”
He continued: “There’s no justification for someone to feel they can pick up arms and take the life of anyone no matter what the circumstances are in any relationship. The solution I believe is in the education process but in the interim I think we need to take a more serious, serious approach to eradicating the proliferation of illegal firearms throughout the Bahamas, not only in Nassau Village.
“The same effort we put into eradicating this COVID where the police were present throughout the communities and every street corner, we could put a dragnet operation in place to acquire as many of these illegal firearms as possible in this country. We have to take a concerted effort to accomplish that. So far I know police have been doing a wonderful job finding people who commit crimes, but these are after-the-fact measures and we need to find a way to take a more preventative approach by first of all going after the guns,” he said.
Comments
joeblow 4 years, 1 month ago
While our system does need improvement, people seem to overlook the obvious fact which is people commit crimes. You reap what you sow. For decades, people in this nation have sown moral looseness, irresponsibility, neglect and dysfunction of all kinds, but yet we expect to have a well ordered society with sensible respectable, law abiding citizens? Most people cannot even have a disagreement without looking for something to throw!
More police cars and technology cannot solve our crime (and social) problems because they come from broken people! If we start there we might be able to make some progress as a nation!
bahamianson 4 years, 1 month ago
yup, system needs to change. implement mandatory classes from primary to high school on social decorum. make the information a part of the bjc's and bjcse tests. mandatory online or in person classes for parents. make a cut off age where classes are no longer mandatory. all young parents are required to take the classes yearly. the classes should reinforce what is taught in the schools. have a credit computerized system. connect every computer to the results. the results should be connected to every governmental institution , banks, airports etc. if you show up for a loan and have not completed classes.... no loan . if you show up for a flight and have not completed classes.... no flight. if you try to get a drivers license and have not completed classes.... no drivers license, you get the point. everything is connected and these boys and girls whom do not possess responsibility must learn that it is on them first, then society.
pileit 4 years, 1 month ago
I must disagree, you cannot teach what is missing here in a "class", this needs to be imparted from a loved, respected major to a minor. In a familial or close social environment. Today, at 48 years, I am still guided in respect and restraint by what I learnt at the feet of my grandmother and grandaunt as a child. They formed me insofar as my respect for self and those around me, and my duty to do what is wise and prudent. Whenever I'm inclined to stray from those principles, its the sense of shame before their eyes that pushes against temptation.
themessenger 4 years, 1 month ago
No disrespect to your grandmother or grandaunt but what you didn't mention and is what is really missing in this equation is parents and parenting. We have mothers who are barely into their teens and grandmothers who are not yet thirty years old. As for the fathers, always conspicuous by their absence. Parenting in the Bahamas became extinct roughly fifty years ago.
bahamianson 4 years, 1 month ago
thats why the mandatory parenting class. you must make them be parents because they don't want to . the society is suffering as a result
themessenger 4 years, 1 month ago
You might have more success with mandatory vasectomies as a penalty for failing to support your children and mandatory tube tying after your fifth child for the fifth absent father. Teachers shouldn't be expected to teach parenting, it's not part of the curriculum, nor can you put the responsibility for parenting on them as far too many Bahamians do, its a job for the parents, both of them.
benniesun 4 years, 1 month ago
@bahamianson - I disagree with you on the electronic linking of moral behavior with accessing services, as that system would be prone to abuse by the authorities who have ostracized and blacklisted many. One thing that needs to be re-introduced in all schools is critical thinking, as many cannot realistically project a current situation to its logical end result. Another major factor is the television which has brainwashed and accustomed many to instant gratification and violence; most shows resolve a problem in about 25 minutes and some about an hour - but in real life problems can take days, or weeks, or months, or even years to resolve. Some problems are not solvable and everyone needs the critical thinking skills to evaluate and solve the solvable and the grace to accept the insolvable.
quietone 4 years, 1 month ago
TWO THINGS I CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND: 1) WHY ON EARTH MOST CAR DRIVERS SPEED SO MUCH ON THIS LITTLE ISLAND... ANYONE WITH A LITTLE SENSE WOULD KNOW THAT TYPE OF DRIVING IS VERY DANGEROUS,,, 2) WHY DID OUR GOVERNMENT EVER CLOSED DOWN THE BEACHES ON THIS ISLAND!!!???
proudloudandfnm 4 years, 1 month ago
Way to be irrelevant...
TalRussell 4 years, 1 month ago
2000 years later and there remains the differing argument that Comrade Jesus, had been' either a walkabouts liar or a lunatic or be's the Lord heself...and, since May 2017, or post governing days thereabouts, there are the conflicting personality arguments both expressed and unspoken of the Comrade House Speaker's acting out?
Just couldn't make this CYA House-Speaker's own constituency re electability stuff up. Just couldn't.
Shakehead once for Yeah, Twice for Not?
trueBahamian 4 years, 1 month ago
I think that there is a direct correlation between education and civilized ssocieties. If you look at out national average, you see we gave serious crime issues. If you look at the US, they have issues within their public education system and you see that manifested in crime stats. If you look at the Europeans who spent a lot on public education, they have much lower crime rates. So, like the commenter here said, you reap what you sow, that's truly correct. Improve education and you improve society.
joeblow 4 years, 1 month ago
... there is a better correlation between morality and being civilized. So called civilized societies are better projecting civility while they posture, discuss and hide their moral corruption is all! European countries also legalize a lot of behaviors, artificially reducing "crime rates". You can't be arrested for drugs or prostitution if they are not illegal! Spend six months in any European country and you will see what I mean!
bahamianson 4 years, 1 month ago
good point
TalRussell 4 years, 1 month ago
We still in the year 2020, operate a Debtors Slop Bucket Prison!
Consecutive black governments never did get around ridding the colony colonial repressive laws, in fact, they went on writing new laws resulted in the jailing increased number blacks since May 10, 2017, which have been used much more plentiful, even against the Homeless, by robed judges sworn to a colonial oath to the English Queen. Just couldn't make this stuff up. Just couldn't. Shakehead once for Yeah, Twice for Not?
JokeyJack 4 years, 1 month ago
Tal this is the most sensible thing you have ever written on here. I'm shaking my head once, twice, three times, heck - my brain waves are now made of liquid crashing against the shoreline of my skull.
There is an old saying that you can judge a society by how it treats its most vulnerable (Gandhi). We treat our most vulnerable (prisoners) horribly and rank in the top ten worst in the world as far as prisons go. We once ranked number one on some poll, but I never believed that because nobody can beat out Turkey.
A Christian society? Where are the pastors dealing with the situation at the prison? Oh yeah, quite a number "go there" some Sundays to show their face - but can anyone name right now 5 pastors that go there? Have you ever heard any of them say anything against the government's policies there? Have there been any marches? Do we even have a publicly available list of prisoners, or can people who don't have close family and friends simply be taken from the streets and disappear? Anything from the Christian Council that we all know actually runs this country much like the "Council of Guardians" does in Iran?
We all remember about ten years ago when a photo was somehow snuck out of the prison showing a man naked and bloody on a cement floor in the prison and the outcry about it was mainly "How did that photo get out?", instead of concern and questioning about what the photo actually presented.
Everyone knows about this. The Vaseline jokes are common. It is our most widely known secret. A fact that people simultaneously know and deny - quite a mental skill actually.
At the heart of the issue, however, is that it teaches our youth what we truly believe and value as a society. People have no innate value. People are not valuable simply because they are people. They only have value if they make a certain amount of money, or wear their seatbelts, or do whatever the government and the churches require of them. Otherwise, their birth certificates which indicate their status as a child of God are "lost." They are no longer children of God, but instead are animals placed in cages and treated much worse than those at any four-legged animal shelter.
So when an angry upset youth has reached his (or her) boiling point, and finds himself behind a gun with his finger on the trigger and is aiming at his adversary - is he thinking and realizing that he is about to kill a human being, a child of God, his brother in Christ??? NO. He is only about to kill another worthless animal just like he will be in a few weeks' time after the judge's hammer falls.
pileit 4 years, 1 month ago
But how you figure prisoners are the most vulnerable? They are those with the least respect for their fellow man, or his rights. What of the elderly, homeless, and mentally afflicted?
JokeyJack 4 years, 1 month ago
You have swallowed the story put out for public consumption. They are the most vulnerable. It's hard to really come to grips with that fact until you find yourself behind metal bars and know that you MAY get something to eat in the next 48 hours, or you may not. Salty water is bad for the kidneys too, by the way. Where will your fresh water come from? You kinda have to visualize it. Many cannot, and are just shocked by the reality when it besets them.
themessenger 4 years, 1 month ago
Correct, and to exacerbate it the D- average baby/criminal factory keeps on churning them out. The church in this country is about money not man.
The_Oracle 4 years, 1 month ago
I think we have exactly the country we must want, as it is what we have. We treat our Elderly like crap, beat our children for being curious, don't talk to them, and yes, our prison is a disgrace. We lead by example (thieving, beating, scamming) and then try to legislate the opposite. There is nothing wrong with our laws, the fault is in the administration and adherence to the law. We do not think abstract only two dimensions (hence the rock being thrown with little provocation, and usually while running away) Degrading a society can happen in a few years, rebuilding one takes decades of effort. We've been dismantling it for 50 years. Oh, BTW, we love shooting the messenger.
DWW 4 years, 1 month ago
Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory. Sun Tzu Bahamians must learn to mediate, negotiate, compromise. I advocate national service, every man and woman of age should spend 3 weeks in a boot camp learning skills like handling weapons in order to defend this fine country. The 3 weeks training at 18 years old would also teach discipline and mediation. I will be the first to sign up even though i am well past the age of consent.
DWW 4 years, 1 month ago
then issue a weapon to every able bodied voter in the country. you will great changes overnight.
themessenger 4 years, 1 month ago
@DWW, you're obviously one of the Proud Boys stand down but stand by mindset.
"It is only when a mosquito lands on your testicles that you realize there is always a way to resolve problems without using violence." Confucious.
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