Tuesday, July 13, 2021
THERE are too many murders in our country. One would be too many, but our murder rate puts us among the highest in the world.
It would be too easy for a police force to always have to deal with the latest murders, while ones from last year slip past, with no one brought to justice.
Credit, then, to the police officers who keep doing the work, and who keep bringing suspects to face court to answer for their crimes.
Today, for example, six suspects are expected at court to face accusations over several murders – including one man who is accused of committing five homicides, two of them double killings.
That man’s case date back to 2018, and while it may have been a long road for officers following the trail of a years-old murder, it will finally reach court today so the suspect’s guilt or innocence can be tested.
As one man is brought to court to answer accusations over five murders, however, the long holiday weekend has brought us another five murders for officers to investigate, the first on Thursday and the most recent last night.
It sometimes seems there is no end to the violence that affects our country. Police officers know the situation better than anyone, they face it every day on the front line against crime. They suspect some of these latest killings are linked and the result of retaliation between “rival” groups. They may not say the word gangs, but it hangs in the air the same way their presence hangs in the air of our communities, afflicting our young men most of all with a life of violence that all too often ends in prison or with a bullet.
How do we change that? That’s a discussion we’ve had many times, and the solution seems no nearer. Why do people end up in these gangs? Well, how many other places do we give them to go?
We have made progress in some ways – the rehabilitation of offenders has taken a step forward, with a committee giving those with black marks on their record the chance to leave those behind and live a crime-free life.
But the police officers on the street who keep doing their best to gather the evidence and bring cases to court, no matter how old they are, deserve a salute. If criminals feel they can act without fear of being caught, of being held accountable, they would indeed overwhelm us. So while it may take years, every case helps to push back the tide.
While we must redouble our efforts to stop the killings happening in the first place, we thank the police for their determination that these crimes do not go forgotten, and to give the families of victims justice at last.
COVID risk
There is nothing but sadness in reporting that among the latest deaths from COVID-19 is that of a five-month-old baby girl.
The baby died on June 26, and we also report today that a 78-year-old woman has also died from the virus.
For all the talk of any progress we have made in vaccinating against COVID-19, there is one group that remains unprotected so far – our children.
The vaccines that have been developed around the world were first approved for use by adults, before further testing to see how they affected children and whether they were safe for use. Some have already been given approval for children aged as young as 12 in some countries, but not all countries and not all vaccines. The process goes on.
Children are considered a low-risk group, but low-risk is not zero-risk. How can we reduce that risk? Well, those of us who can get vaccinations should do so, to make it harder for the virus to spread. And we should keep wearing our masks, washing our hands and keeping our distance.
If we don’t do this for ourselves, we should do it for the ones we love, to protect them and to try to keep them safe. Too many families have mourned a loved one already – with the official count of COVID deaths in The Bahamas now standing at 254. Let’s do all we can to stop there being more.
Comments
John says...
The minister of national security says Bahamians should not worry themselves about the recent murders since it is only two rival gangs having a ‘Lil war.’ Think national his man is having another mELTdoWn? Yet he spends millions of Bahamians taxpayers money on crime fighting toys. The man promised to do something about crime and murder especially. And he did! He made it worse. And police involved killings have nearly doubled under his watch. A meltdown and a failure. Then meltdown Marvin goes on to say the crime problem is a result of failed parenting, decades of neglect he claims. So why didn’t meltdown Marvin tell that to his PM years ago. At least s year after he ascended to office as Minister of National Security? Why didn’t he tell the PM that what the country has is a social problem and not a crime problem. Take some $5 million from the defense budget and put towards more social programs, like parenting, job training, youth mentoring, especially for males?
Posted 13 July 2021, 6:37 p.m. Suggest removal
John says...
As long as Marvin Dames remains in charge of the police and national security , young men in this country will continue to lose their lives and others will have their pictures plastered on the news charged with bloody murder. Marvin Dames is compromised to a country that started a war on Black people decades ago. They see them as a threat and want ALL Black men either dead or in prison . Stay woke! Now they gat Da Afrikaans helping capture (and KILL) da slaves.
Posted 14 July 2021, 5:54 a.m. Suggest removal
Emilio26 says...
John actually Marvin Dames is not the blame for how these young men turn out in life. The blame should be placed on the parents and guardians of how they raise their kids.
Posted 14 July 2021, 8:32 a.m. Suggest removal
stislez says...
I agree but don't act like police aint contributing to this problem we have. Listen, i bought my 1st gun from a police officer ok! So i know 1st hand that they contribute to crime. The police know who the bosses of these gangs are and who sends out these hits, im positive of this. There is one particular guy who from pinewood you can't tell me the police don't know who he is! He is toooooooo well known as the top dog. Plus the police know who he came up under. Trust me, yall would be foolish to believe the police ain't making this problem worst. I've been to jail, i know what they say up there about police, i know how police are paid off. What the public don't know is the amount of police that are under investigation! Trust me yall don't want to know the truth about our police. What happen to those police who always 1st on scene when there are certain murders????huh???? They under investigation! This is simple math people, the government and law makers, our armed forces are basic representations of us as Bahamian people. So if they are corrupt then we are too! We all live in the same box, the world don't see you or me they see the Bahamas as a whole.
Posted 14 July 2021, 10:46 a.m. Suggest removal
John says...
For many young men, their first encounter with violence and abuse is with a police officer. And this started decades ago. Police would pull a vehicle over, haul the occupants out, verbally abuse them and slap and even kick anyone that dare say something. Just recently a guy came from a Family island to renew his passport. He was locked up by police and then released without explanation. Of course he was angry but decided to return to the island and never return to Nassau. But what about those who live here and cannot escape this police state? Men coming from beork in uniform or clearly from a construction site are treated the same way. Yes a lot of the problem may be bad parenting but a lot more is the way Bahamians are being mistreated in their own country.
Posted 14 July 2021, 10:56 a.m. Suggest removal
ThisIsOurs says...
"*If we don’t do this for ourselves, we should do it for the ones we love*"
Tourists are our biggest risks. Please take a look at the Tribune's weekend supplement that spoke about the Spanish flu and how poor people had to choose between getting infected and dying or making money. Some made money by taking care of infected people. When you think of it, how is that different than our minimum wage hotel workers who then go home to their 5 month old babies? The issue isnt them not wearing a mask, its constantly being exposed to infection so thst they can eat. If they were rich they wouldnt do it. It is **exactly** the paradox written about in your article
Posted 14 July 2021, 5:46 p.m. Suggest removal
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