The Tribune

AT the beginning of 2024, after a terrible spate of murder and bloodshed, we are once again playing out our near perfected and predictable response to violent crime.

This time, it is the double-digit frenzy of retaliatory and other killings, which commenced in the closing weeks of December, 2023. By comparison, Belize, with a population similar in size to The Bahamas, has only had one or two murders for the year.

With the residents of New Providence frightened by the brazenness and frequency of the killings, our ritualised response is playing out on cue.

There was the usual call for a National Day of Prayer by the Bahamas Christian Council (BCC), which has offered little concrete advice for the government, other than the exasperatingly knee-jerk and banal baying for more killing, namely the death penalty.

Increased crime and violence often provoke anger and fear in the community. This leads to calls for retribution and capital punishment. Such a punishment is morally uncreative. Moreover, it is an anemic and non-deterrent response to the retaliatory violence and dysfunction of our deep-seated culture of criminality.

As others have noted, prayer is essential. But neither prayer nor hope are strategies to prevent and address crime. And, how does one pray for peace, wisdom and a more loving society in one breath, while demanding capital punishment in the other?

In a recent press conference, the frustration of Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander was palpable. The Commissioner noted that he invited some members of the BCC to meet with him and some of those detained by the Force in connection with some of the murders.

There was little garnered from the detainees as to the reasons for their criminality and little gained from the clerics as to a response. Mr Fernander knows well that there is only so much that enhanced policing, which is vital, will accomplish.

The judiciary quickly and rightly defended the constitutional rights of those alleged to have committed murder. Yet, over the decades, the dysfunction in every area of the criminal justice system remains, with the state incapable still of trying certain offenders in a timelier manner. It is a deadly failure.

Meanwhile, panicked by the public blowback, the political directorate mounted its typical response, as it has repeatedly over the years. We have been here before. In March, 2022, after a series of killings, Prime Minister Philip Davis gathered stakeholders to address that crime wave. This was just under two years ago.

The Nassau Guardian reported back then: “Prime Minister Philip Davis yesterday convened an ‘urgent conclave’ with high-level stakeholders to address the ‘sharp increase in murders’.”

Mr Davis noted: “While much of it is clearly gang-related, it is also clear that a range of other factors are contributing to this spike.”

“There are no easy, quick fixes to the crime dilemma, neither is there any one solution. However, we were able to identify immediate measures that will help to reduce levels of crime.

“I will have more to say on this issue in the coming days but I want to express a heartfelt thank you to the various agencies who participated.

“These include the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the Department of Public Prosecutions, the Bahamas Crisis Centre, The Hope Centre, the opposition, the Bahamas Christian Council, members of my government and Cabinet.

“All sectors of society have a role to play in this partnership and, going forward, we invite the public to be a part.”

Two years later we are at the same, if not a worse place.

Crime is undoubtedly complex, requiring a multidimensional response. Yet, because our political leaders have to respond quickly in the moment, they tend to rely mostly on more policing and other urgent response. While a number of these measures are required, they have repeatedly proved insufficient.

As with other policy issues requiring longer-term measures, most of our political leaders have failed to understand, analyze and implement the more comprehensive social intervention measures needed to address certain aspects of crime and violence.

As repeated, ad nauseam, by this columnist and many others, our leaders have generally failed to appreciate the sociology of violence and crime in The Bahamas, which tops some international charts for violence and obesity.

Is there a correlation between the two in terms of patterns of behaviour and cultural norms? A comparison may be helpful. We will utterly fail to address obesity in The Bahamas and the related high incidence of non-communicable diseases by simply adding a sugar tax, or conducting advertising campaigns, and other such measures.

To successfully respond to obesity requires a complex of sustained cultural, social public health, and economic measures that help to change cultural and behavioral habits around eating, exercising, drinking and other lifestyle patterns.

The same applies to crime. More hospital beds will not reverse obesity. Similarly, more prison cells will not reverse crime, especially given the state and mindset about corrections, which, though improving, dramatically lags behind more progressive jurisdictions.

Thirteen years ago, on October 3, 2011, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham addressed the nation amidst the crime crisis of the time. He urged: “Even as we relentlessly combat the criminals, provide law enforcement and the judiciary with the tools and resources they require and modernise our laws, there is something else as urgent, as essential – it is urgent and essential that we renew, restore and replenish our sense of community choosing a culture of life over a culture given over to deadly violence.”

Mr Ingraham proposed a number of measures, including various social interventions: “The Ministers of Education, Labour and Social Development and Youth, Sports and Culture will collaborate on the development of a programme like the highly successful Outward Bound Programme which may help steer at-risk youth and first-offenders away from a life of crime.

“Simultaneously, these Ministries and Departments will collaborate toward improving the programmes available for youths at the Simpson Penn and Willamae Pratt facilities with a view to improving the results being achieved in preparing these young people for reintegration into the community with skills to pursue productive lives.”

Ingraham and the FNM lost office the following year. He was unable to put in place a number of the measures he proposed. Imagine the difference such measures may have made in the lives of a number of young people. Lost years and decades of inaction result in lost lives.

In his address this past Sunday, Mr Davis noted: “Crime is not just a legal issue. And the causes of crime are deeply rooted in a range of social, economic, and psychological factors. The strategy draws on contemporary research, successful models from around the world, and consultations with experts across various fields.”

He further advised: “… We will prioritise rehabilitation. This final pillar aims to prepare offenders for successful reintegration into society. There is no point releasing people back into the community if we have not tackled the behaviours that caused them to offend in the first place.

“It includes vocational training, educational programmes, mental health and substance abuse treatment, and support networks to reduce the chances of people falling back into offending…”

The Prime Minister stated: “Back in August last year, we agreed a strategy which would tackle the entire criminal lifecycle. We recognised that we need both a ‘Whole of Government and a Whole of Society approach' if we are both to reduce crime, as well as root out the causes of crime.”

In a press statement released this past Tuesday, the Davis administration noted the prevention pillar of its crime strategy: “Initiatives include expanding youth programmes, investing in community centres, and enhancing educational opportunities, particularly targeting at-risk populations.”

All of this is necessary. But what are the specifics? In a 2004 report on crime, Marlon Johnson, the then Director of SAFE Bahamas concluded: “Across the world, there have been many thousands of initiatives developed to address citizen safety issues similar to those in the Bahamas. A considerable number of studies have been carried out to determine which types of programmes work to prevent or mitigate crime, and which simply do not have any measurable impact on crime either immediately or over time.”

The report indicated three levels of strategies and programmes that have enjoyed success across cultures and jurisdictions. One of these is social intervention.

“Sustained and targeted intervention strategies – for programmes targeted at modifying destructive behaviour patterns in individuals, there is a need for specificity in what behaviour patterns are being addressed, as well as for constancy in the intervention programmes.”

Here are the key elements: “specificity in what behaviour patterns are being addressed”, and “constancy in the intervention programmes”.

If we do not become more serious about comprehensive intervention measures, we will continue to replay this same response cycle after a significant increase in murders: calls for a day of prayer; demands for hanging; more handwringing; another national address on crime; more wrangling over bail and dysfunction in criminal justice system; and more policing measures.

Social intervention is only one part of a more comprehensive approach to crime and violence. But it is a strategy for which we have significantly failed to plan and to commit more human and financial resources.

Severe crime and increased violence are not inevitable. They are the result of cultural, societal and governmental failures. Addressing these failures with greater seriousness and determination is the necessary course if we want a more peaceful society.

More Next Week.