Oh dear me.....another "no reason to feel unsafe, everything is fine". The last such statement was made by the old Police Commissioner, and the very next weekend armed robbers stormed into a supermarket out West in broad daylight.

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

Unfortunately words are cheap! I read about people getting shot just leaving their houses, and I don't know any of the situations but it happens too often. What's being done about this? I don't see anything. It's not a simple solution. There's rebuilding the family, education and JOBS. Hungry people aren't happy people. People have to have hopes and dreams. Too many young men have died needlessly. Start with your family, It has to start somewhere.

***"Mr Dames said the Bahamas is faced with crime challenges because of decades of neglect in which Bahamians have abdicated their responsibility as adults and as parents. He said children were allowed to roam aimlessly without structure or direction causing social decay.
#The government, he said, is now faced with trying to build communities where young people can find wholesome and meaningful ways to live a law-abiding and peaceful existence."***
And now that he has been in office for over a year, isn't he starting to sing the same songs of his predecessors, "No reason to feel unsafe."
And isn't he starting to dissect the crime figures under a microscope, just as the former administration did, just to take advantage of the slightest decrease in crime, and to convince they public that they are, indeed safe. But yet bodies are constantly being scraped up, of the streets, out of cars, in the driveways of homes, and yes out of barber chairs. And as records will bare out, the most welcome and appreciated and longest sustained period of 37% decrease in murders can be wiped out in a few short weeks as the summer months approach. This is when the killings really heat up.
"

> The government, he said, is now faced
> with trying to build communities where
> young people can find wholesome and
> meaningful ways to live a law-abiding
> and peaceful existence."*

This right here is the key to putting an end or at least a permanent handle on crime. New Providence needs to be segmented into districts. At least four. And all the infrastructure to sustain everyday life should be put into those areas. Post offices, places to renew drivers licenses and passports, recreational centers for the youth, bill payment centers for various government fees and the creation of regular jobs in that area so the regular ordinary resident does not have to travel across the island to go to work. So you reestablish a community like an environment, where everyone knows everyone and strangers are easily identified. This can be even more enforced by giving license plates that identify the general area a person resides. So if the police spots a vehicle registered in the Eastern area of the island driving in the Southwest after hours, then they have reason to stop the vehicle. The need to have everyone in a wild frenzy all the other island every day, to work, to drop off or pick up children to and from school, to the hospital, the passport office, So in essence you spend most of your time in their area where you live. In other words, people from Fort Lauderdale do not usually go down to Miami every day. And when someone from south Andros goes up North, everyone knows he is not from North.

For every ONE "innocent" person who is murdered,10 are either involved in criminality or are revenge killings ........ Little Camron Cooper was a innocent victim, but those Cartwright brothers were already involved in the drug underworld.

No Games Dames I was under the impression that the murder rate was year to date. But
it is now month to month. even so No Games it is not getting better it is getting worse. The
PLP government put Urbane Renewal in place But you say you will improve it.

Joseph said his brothers did him wrong but God allowed it to be good, The Former Commissioner .Greenslade can say the same thing.

Admitting there is a problem is the first step to solving the problem, Mr. Minister! PEOPLE DO NOT FEEL SAFE!

....its a bigger picture that involves Tourist warnings, investors, expats ....more expenses to do business, razor wire, cameras, secuurity ....

This guy has lost has marbles and is no longer in touch with the Bahamian people.

The chauffeurs and body guards must be clouding his ordinary judgement.

I remember that crooked old hypocrite Bernard Nottage saying the same thing as he travelled around in his chauffeured limousine wearing a bullet-proof vest and carrying a hand gun. I wonder what sort of character this ex-policeman is? Does he carry a hand gun? Does he too wear a bullet-proof vest? Does he ride easy in a chauffeur driven limousine? It would be so refreshing to have a cabinet minister who is not a hypocritical lying self-serving Waste of space.

Will the Bahamian society descend into chaos .... or riots ??????

Most of the anti-social situations that we have is due to a lack of personal discipline and greed ......... Check our streets, public offices, schools, etc.

We might, if the status quo is maintained unchecked.

We should. But I think there are several factors keeping us compliant and silent.
We are numbed by the constant barrage of horrible news. Whether it is the murders in broad daylight, or the wholesale attack on the working and poor classes by our own government.
Lacking the education to understand the alternatives, what choice do we have?
Perhaps it is what is termed "learned helplessness" in psychology.
Or, it could be what appears to be an entirely distracted populace, lured to inaction by a sedentary lifestyle, and a mind-numbing diet of junk food, reality TV, facebook, social media and an unhealthy fascination with sports.
Plus, a trigger-happy police force who will stand alongside the oppressors, while shooting first the people who want justice for all.
Nothing new really.

....yes we have heard....the ...ZERO TOLERANCE ON CRIME.....SWIFT JUSTICE....PROTECTION FOR WITNESSES....TOUGHER PENALTIES FOT ILLEGAL FIREARMS...

.....so the 'no reason to feel unsafe'.fits right in there and brings much relief ..

Excellent News now that comrade people's security minister must insist Bahamalanders have absolutely no reason to feel unsafe in colony islands Nassau Town...... Does we be left presume, no more need some his Imperial red shirts cabinet colleagues be packin' loaded pistols Heat.... nor expect PeoplesPublicPurse foot the costs provide them armed Policeman's protection.... that no longer will Policeman's be required drive their red asses around Nassau Town in back seats government's fleet cars? For F--- sakes, why not try sending clear sign that Imperial red cabinet ministers are capable something positively different than simply resuming what the former PLP cabinet ministers, abused... including armed policeman's parked out front they residences, while ministers sleep.

The gambling addicted hoods need money to support their constant desire to spin numbers. It's no different for them than the crack addict who needs his next fix. Of course His Royal Highness King Sebas and his side kick Sir Craig Flowers are the only ones laughing all the way to the bank as the social and economic fabric of our society crumbles right before our eyes.

Just as a Government is a reflection of society, so is Crime.
Seems the two go hand in hand.

His are the words of a man who simply cannot be trusted!

Well, we're going to be a narco-state at this point. Why doesn't Dames or any other National Security minister realize that they're under a Drug War, with gangs using superior tactics and equipment that outshines the police and Defense Force. It's time to stop lying and begin to start the counter-attacks against the gangs and their smugglers.

Those who have been paying attention for the last 50 years fully understand how the war on drugs has merely enabled crooked governments and smugglers to make all the money. There is no logical reason to keep drugs illegal. Did we really not learn any lessons from prohibition?
Crime would go down.
And, then we could start cracking down on real crime.
There are some law enforcement holdouts from another era who still advocate for a drug war. Mostly so that they can tighten their own grip on power.
The thinkers in law enforcement realized quite a few years ago that the war on drugs was a failure for society. Unless, of course you were Oliver North, Carlos Lehder, Lynden Pindling.....................................................

Sure. We can legalize most drugs that are proven safe in certain amounts. The real problem is that the gangs and drug cartels are using natural drugs and altering them into chemical-contaminated versions of themselves. But overall, this has something to do with the gangs. They're trying to start Guerrilla Warfare in the Bahamas. They're winning, and if we don't turn this war around. Our legacy is forever tied to drug lords and terrorists.

Ma Comrade Marvin's perception how safe residents communities and neighbourghoods feel, is how they're entitled to feel. But this is NOT the reality way people are forced to live mornings, noons and nighttimes in the broken capital city colony islands.

The lack of empathy is the clearest winner in Bahamian politics. These guys are so thick headed that they don't seem concerned about anything. Empathy is not a weakness getlemen! However, your lack of empathy makes it appear that you are out of touch with the Bahamian people and, worse, don't have the most basic intelligence to do your job.

Agreed.

So Porcupine you think legalizing drugs will solve the crime problem? Like legalizing gambling? After gambling was legalized there were web shops everywhere and gambling has increased. Reports are that it has had a particularly devastating affect in Long Island.

What we legalized is the monopoly on gambling, by those who had already unfairly gained a leg up on everyone else, illegally.
A national lottery would be a way of looking at the social costs of this activity, and having some of that revenue to address these issues.
We could do what we could to discourage the activity, protect families, and provide assistance to those unable to gamble responsibility.
But yes Userone, the statistics do support the fact that the war on drugs has been a complete and utter failure being used for military purposes and for political and social control.
There was never any intent to improve our societies.
And yes, it is helping devastate Andros, as well.
If were on the all-important topic of crime prevention, does anyone think this increase in VAT will not increase crime?

Has the minister given any reasons us of WHY we should feel safe?

Have they not realized yet that every time they say this stuff, murders go up bc the gangsters feel behind on quota. ,