Guyana’s crime situation is reversible

Jul 23, 2017 Features / Columnists, My Column

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A foreign media entity has been compiling reports on the Caribbean. It has been documenting the Caribbean nationals who made it big in the entertainment world, in sport and even in the criminal world. With amazing regularity, it has been recording the number of Caribbean nationals deported from the United States.
They number in the thousands, many of them for simple reasons like a traffic violation or a case of abusive language. Indeed, some of them have been deported for drug offences and more than a few for violent crimes like murder and attempted murder.
In the past, I used to worry about the ability of the Caribbean to deal with these deportees, many of whom honed their skills in the United States. Some of them left the Caribbean shores little more than babies and therefore have no recollection of the countries of their birth.
A few would be approached or would approach the criminal underworld and would continue, but more than a few would try to gain honest living. Indeed, when the potential employer heard the accent he would balk, because he would know that the person before him is an involuntary returnee. Yet many would grant the person employment and would report on how good this person is.
There was a time when the deportee programme began, the local authorities would publish the photographs of these persons. However, some of us felt that these persons committed no crime in Guyana and therefore there was no need to embarrass them. The result is that the local media have stopped publishing the names and photographs of these deportees.
That is why I was surprised when Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo demanded the names of the prisoners who were granted early release from the overcrowded prison system. To my mind, the persons had paid their dues to society, therefore the publication of their names represented another opportunity to stigmatise them.
It was not until later that I realized that there was another motive behind seeking the names. There were people who wanted to see the ethnic composition of those released. Minister of Public Security did release the names, and I am still to see the effect of that decision. There was a time when anyone with smidgen of a criminal record became a target for people who roamed the street looking for gun targets.
When I heard about the request for the names that thought came to my mind, and I hoped and prayed that I was not going to see a return to the days when bodies were picked up from the streets.
I suppose the foreign media that keep tabs on the Caribbean was prepared to monitor such behaviour. Recently, there was the report that Guyana was the sixth most violent country in the Caribbean. I was not too surprised, because we have our fair share of gun crimes and senseless killings.
Young men leave their homes with only criminal intent on their minds. Sometimes, they make headlines, as was the case of the group that shot and killed a minibus driver who attempted to drive away to save some of his passengers from being robbed at gunpoint.
I looked at the list and I saw that the Dominican Republic was at the top. Trinidad and Tobago was ahead of Jamaica, and Guyana was sixth. Indeed, every day I read of some violent murder in the twin-island Republic. Jamaica, too, has its share. But for Guyana with its correspondingly small population, I was saddened.
I was lifted somewhat when I saw that the United States was considered more dangerous than Guyana. The difference is that the United States catches the criminal at a greater rate than the local law enforcement officials.
Many of us in this country go through life without witnessing a violent crime. We are only made aware by way of media reports. Sometimes the extent of the criminal act defies logic. Why kill when the victim is already at your mercy?
The age of the criminal may have something to do with this. Last week I learnt that an 18-year-old escaped from the Georgetown Public Hospital with a gunshot wound that needs serious attention. This 18-year-old was shot by the police.
His parents and a sibling claim that he was shot for no reason. If that is indeed the case, why escape from the hospital? He had a tube in his back which he removed. Someone had provided a red dress, brassiere and the necessary padding to form artificial breasts. It meant that somebody wanted this lad out of the hospital.
His mother claims that she has no knowledge of where he is, a strange pronouncement when one considers that she was interested enough to visit Kaieteur News to complain about aspects of the news report.
At 18, the lad should have been seeking to gain employment or to further his education, instead of patrolling the streets. This situation tells us that we need many community workers to work with the disadvantaged young people, many of whom tend to follow role models that seem bent on a collision course with law enforcement.
At this time we are hunting four escaped criminals. The police do not know where they are, and it is highly unlikely that they would find these persons in a hurry, because there are sections of the society who protect these people.
When all is said and done, the driving force behind many of the criminal acts is money. People still believe in having large sums in their possession. This is unnecessary when one considers that there are now so many ways to settle accounts. The debit card is more and more widely accepted.
In the absence of the debit card, there is always the Manager’s cheque which can be used for large transactions. I do know that there are businessmen who prefer cash, since they want to avoid paying taxes, but the truth is that they stand to lose much more than the requisite taxes.
At the other end of the scale, we need to pay closer attention to the school system. Examples taught at school are not easily forgotten. Then there is the home, which is the nursery. There is a lot wrong in many poor homes, but nothing should stop parents from protecting their children.
I still hear of the case of the father who remarked to a son that he would keep enough money to bury him. Indeed the son was shot and killed and the father was vilified by some.

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