The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Almost all Bahamians appear to be in a state of daze and are walking around like chickens, with all due respect to them, with no heads over the ever presence of crime and the fear of crime. No one seems to have a viable solution and even fewer have questioned the root causes of the same. It is almost akin to a person having an illness, see the symptoms, but cannot quite seem to figure out the antidote.

In human experience, dialogue is essential in most cases. The police are shrilly crying out for amendments to the Bail Act. They seem to be saying that the bulk of crimes are being committed by people who would have been admitted to bail, even though they are 'known' to the police. Lock them up and throw away the keys. That, of course, without concrete steps to attempt to rehabilitate those who are imprisoned is foolishness.

When dealing with crime all facets of the same must be carefully and sensibly discussed. You gagged people like wild beasts when they re-enter society, many of them will be even more wild than when they went in. In my experience at the Criminal Bar...

The other day some nebulous individuals met with so-called known gang leaders to discuss these issues. This was stupid and sends the wrong message to the criminal elements. It is like asking the fox to give suggestions on how to keep the hapless chickens safe, after the fox would have already eaten a good portion of them. You want to stop rapes and robberies, ask the suspected assailants about their techniques and strategies.

It is now clear that despite all of the fancy talk and massive manpower and resources, that the police and the powers that be are 'talking' to the wrong people.

A National Day of Prayer is a good thing as prayers avail a righteous man/woman much. Apart from providing a high platform for the reverends and the politicians to wax and pray eloquently, what do you think would be accomplished, in my considered view, very little and maybe even nothing.

Those in authority have been talking to or with the wrong people for far too long. May I suggest that a series of Town Hall styled meetings be held with stakeholders and the unwashed masses. The latter are the probable victims of crime, especially in the inner city areas of New Providence and pockets of criminality in the Family Islands.

Who better to dialogue and talk with than the mostly innocent victims of crime? They are like lambs being led to the slaughter. They have been relegated to being told to keep silent; shut up and take it like a man/woman. While the 'lambs' are being told this, few of the law enforcement people, et al, bothers to talk with them. It must be kept in mind that these same 'lambs' are connected, in some way, to the criminal elements, either as friend, lovers and relatives.

They know who the criminals are and for sure many of them live within our households. Yet, apart from 'intelligence' gathering, such as it might be, the police and powers that be skirt around the real issues and causation relative to crime. When last have you heard about any sort of public meetings between the police and ordinary Bahamians?

Unless and until ordinary Bahamians are offered a public platform to dialogue with the powers that be, where information and strategies could be shared or fleshed out, we could pray until The Kingdom comes while witnessing at least one hundred alleged homicides per year and more. The sad thing is that a large number of our so-called churches are led by ex-police officers. You'd think that with their experience in law enforcement and supposed connectivity to God, that the collective church would easily deal with this ongoing criminal problem.

Not so. The church is crying. The police are crying and nobody seems to know what the hell is going on. The late singer Marvin Gaye asked the rhetorical question many years ago: 'Mama, mama what's going on? Brother, brother what's happening?' No one, at least here in The Bahamas, has been able to answer that question. The Lambs have been silenced and the mayhem goes on. I encourage the Prime Minister to mandate the Hon Minister of National Security to convene appropriate Town Hall-styled meetings with right thinking citizens at the earliest opportunity.

The Commissioner of Police is crying for the legislature to amend the Bail Act even though persons on bail are allegedly committing even more diabolical criminal acts while on bail or are being slaughtered while on bail. The Constitution 'guarantees' bail to all and sundry, even in cases of suspected homicides. We'd have to have a constitutional referendum.

As a legally trained person, I seriously doubt that any administration would have the political coconuts to hold a referendum anytime soon. They seem to 'fear' such a thought more than they 'fear' the known criminals.

The Lambs have been silenced and the Fox is large and, obviously, in charge. You want to change this. Talk to the victims and those who are aiding and abetting the criminals. To God then, in all things, be the glory

ORTLAND H BODIE, Jr

Nassau,

January 13, 2024.