The Tribune

Crime is not someone else’s problem. It is ours. All of us.

And if it is our problem, it is up to us to find the solutions. Together.

That was the message of Safe Bahamas, the not-for-profit that in the earlier 2000’s brought a commonsense approach to the vicissitudes of crime by making all of us part of the picture.

Organized by a group of corporate and civic leaders first united by a call from the then Minister of National Security, the Hon. Frank Watson, and working alongside Commissioner of Police Paul Farquharson, we began meeting weekly.

Those of us who donated our time, energy and know-how, whatever that was, were proud to do so and we did not hesitate to call on others and ask for their time and resources. No one was paid. Everyone gave, not from their wallet, but from their heart, gave their time, their talent, their knowledge, for the love of country.

There were a few differences between then and now, but not so many as you might think.

There were fewer guns, fewer gang members. Ammunition was far less powerful. Those who carried, packed pistols. It was before semi-automatics and AR-15s became the weapons of choice and a murder for hire cost less than a good night at the movies with popcorn.

There were similarities.

It was a gnawing sense of creeping lawlessness that startled the then Commissioner of Police Farquharson and later Ellison Greenslade and the public into action.

Law enforcement knew, we all knew if we were going to get a handle on this before gangs and fear drove us further behind locked doors, windows and gated communities, we could not do it alone. It had to be a national effort. We coalesced and brought in folks representing more than 100 organizations.

No segment or sector was immune to the call -- neighbourhood associations, religious leaders and congregations, unions, hotel executives and tourism promotion boards, business leaders, youth groups and halfway houses, volunteers, musicians, entertainers and Junkanoo groups.

Every individual on the board was assigned a compatible role that best suited him or her in the fight against what we could all feel was the mounting fear of crime. We created a blueprint mapping out assigned roles of responsibility including Legislation, Neighbourhoods, Criminal Justice, Courts & the Judicial System, Victims, Prison and Rehabilitation, Enforcement, White Collar Crime, Public Awareness, Family Education and Planning, Youth. There were conveners and steering committee liaisons.

It was an org chart where everyone knew what he or she was responsible for and there have probably been small countries organized with less detail and forethought.

I repeat – no one got off lightly.

That’s the message Tourism tried to deliver this week in a rework of the campaign, Tourism is Everybody’s Business.

The truth is Crime is Everybody’s Business. A poor education system that turns out some incredible successes but fails to prepare thousands for a productive life is Everybdy’s Business. A neighbourhood that doesn’t watch out for each other is Everybody’s Business. Dirt and grime and oil polluting the earth from the spread of bush mechanics is Everybody’s Business. Homelessness and ruthlessness and poverty and hunger is, every one of them, Everybody’s Business.

We got ourselves into this mess and now we have to dig ourselves out. There can be no more kicking the can down the street or too many young people will kick the bucket before they have had a chance to live.

Do you know what helped make Safe Bahamas so successful? We called on everyone, the best in their businesses or professions and we made them responsible for the solution. We didn’t wait for the police to handle it or blame it on this government or that.

We said WE have a problem and WE have to fix it. We persuaded them to provide services without charge. Legal advisors, Alexiou & Knowles, overall support Nassau Tourism & Development Board, financial advisors, KPMG Corporate Finance, Colina Financial Advisors, Fidelity Merchant Bank & Trust, Auditors, KPMG, Bankers, Commonwealth Bank, Public Relations, Diane Phillips & Associates, Design and & Marketing Services, AdWorks, Consolidated Media, The Counsellors Ltd., Thyme Design, The Fine Print, Bahamas B2B, Basil Smith, The Sign Man, Phillips Sailmakers.

KPMG graciously lent free meeting space and hospitality in its new Montagu foreshore top floor suite for more than one year.

Every single media house came onboard and ran messaging for free.

You could hardly pick up a paper without seeing the truth staring you in the face, b&w ads with pictures like an elderly woman, white hair, glasses and wrinkles, and the lines: The rapist got 7 years. She got life.

Or the full-page ad with an older teen staring, and the words: 1/3 of our high school students are performing below the minimum level. If they can’t make the grade, how will they make a living?

Or the toddler, his large, liquid eyes staring into yours, looking for an answer and the lines: Mummy’s not there. Daddy don’t care. Guess Junior’s on his own.

Every ad contained more detailed information and a pledge card, saying I want to be a part of the solution. Safe Bahamas. It’s our problem. We’re the solution.

By the end of year two, Safe Bahamas was sufficiently organized, and trusted to raise funds to support an office, a director, the young Marlon Johnson, and most importantly, to provide support for social programmess. We had funding to support gaps or expansion of existing programs with a proven track record and reward positive initiatives.

What happened to Safe Bahamas? First, we were in a weekly meeting when the World Trade Tower was hit and Marlon’s wife came running in with the news as all of our cell phones started ringing. Airports closed, tourism died. The world changed and then months later, the government changed.

But for more than two years, we had an answer and we made a difference and it did feel safer in The Bahamas. Because we knew the truth. We were all part of the problem and we all had to be part of the solution.