TIME TO TAKE BACK LAW AND ORDER

Aug 23, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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The government of Trinidad and Tobago has bitten the bullet and decided to declare a limited state of emergency in certain troubled spots in the country.
Given the polarized nature of that country (which shares many similarities with Guyana) that is a most courageous decision taken by the Persad-Bissessar administration.
The decision is likely to attract all manner of criticism and there is likely to be political repercussion from that decision. But the government has decided that it has to do something about that country’s runaway crime rate and it seems as if it is prepared to take strong action, regardless of its popularity, to reduce the crime rate and instability in the country.
Guyana had a similar option during the crime wave here, but our political leaders were timid to do what the government of Trinidad and Tobago is doing. As such, a group of gunmen was allowed to hold almost the entire country under siege while the security forces seemed unable to flush the bandits out of their dens.
Guyana paid a tremendous price for the failure to act courageously. A great many people were killed by the bandits and many others were forced to flee their homes in search of safety. Many throughout the country lived in constant fear for their lives, and all because the security services allowed a situation to get beyond them.
But the security forces should not share all the blame. The political leadership was too timid. Those in authority could not take the sort of decisive action that has now been taken in Trinidad and which earlier this year was taken in Jamaica.
In Jamaica, the security forces were seeking a suspected drug lord wanted in the United States. He was holed up in Tivoli Gardens, one of the most feared areas in Jamaica. In that garrisoned community, the word by those in the community was that the security services dared not come into that area because they would get what was coming to them. There were boasts that the security services could not go into the area.
The community even came out in their thousands. Many women were in the forefront of that action in support of the suspect, who is now awaiting trial in the United States.
The security services did, however, show who the boss was, they went in and sealed the community off. There was no way in or out. Eventually the suspect was held and the residents of Tivoli Gardens now understand that they can never be more powerful than the state.
In Brazil earlier this year, there was a massive clean-up of certain areas as the Brazilian government moved to take back control of certain crime hot spots, and in Mexico, the same thing is happening.
In Britain, this month, there was rioting as criminality took over after a man was shot dead by police. The rioting spread as people took advantage of the opportunity to loot and cause trouble. But the police eventually got things under control by not only flooding the hot spots with ranks, but also a series of arrests of those involved in causing problems.
There has been no kid-glove approach to the criminal violence in Britain. In fact, the authorities have gone as far as disqualifying those charged from living in government-owned flats. The message was clear. Your actions have consequences, and as far as possible, you will feel the consequences of those actions.
In some communities, persons came out to defend their businesses and homes. They were prepared to ensure that the criminal gangs would not take control of the situation, and they did not.
The Trinidad government is now doing the same. They are attempting to take back the country from the criminals. This action is coming just as there is conflict between the government and the police over pay and there has been an attempt in some areas to take advantage of this situation with flashes of violence.
The government of Trinidad and Tobago is however having none of that. They are taking a stand. It is a lawful stand. They are not resorting to illegal measures. But the imposition of a limited state of emergency is also going to be a controversial measure in any society, especially one that is as divided as Trinidad and Tobago.
But leadership is about making those sorts of decisions and the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar has shown that she has the fortitude, and is prepared to make the hard calls as the situation deserves.
It is now time for her to lockdown the garrisoned communities and, as was done in Brazil and Jamaica, and is now being done in Mexico, to flush the criminals out of their holes.
These measures must be supported, provided they are done in a lawful manner and with all due respect for the rights of citizens – something that is not always very easy when the security services face a difficult situation.
One thing in favour of the T&T Prime Minister, though, is that so far no one is questioning the use of the military in domestic security operations.
The same cannot be said in some countries of the Caribbean, where there is a view that it is okay for the military to transport ballot boxes, but not right for them to engage in civil defence.

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