Tag Archives: crime

I was in Barbados last week. For five days, I was relieved of the need to think about the possibility that someone might try to hold me up or invade the minimally fenced home in which I was staying. Many readers who travel abroad will be well aware of that …

With great dismay last Tuesday, I read the lamentation of three government ministers concerning the state of crime in Trinidad & Tobago and the incidence of drug use amongst youths. One of them, Minister Camille Robinson-Regis, felt “helplessness” in the face of violence. The obvious response is to invite her …

Each day, we are assaulted with new stories about our crime situation. It appears that the front pages of our daily newspaper will soon be unable to shock us. We are growing numb to the suffering spread across the land. Everywhere we turn, we are confronted by violence. Stunning pictures …

Last week’s column was forced to return to what I assert is the government’s unwillingness to take any responsibility for the prevailing rampant killings, particularly for the easy passage of guns and drugs into our island for well over a decade. If not government agencies, who else is expected to …

“A lawless, indisciplined and corrupt nation cannot fight crime.” Pastor Clive Dottin, The People’s Roundtable, January 2024. At The People’s Roundtable, Pastor Dottin discussed the distinction between a street military revolt and a spiritual revival. He saw the nation as having a decision: either we allow the streets to be …

If you had a leak at your home, what would you do? Will you buy a mop and then a larger mop? Or will you seek a plumber to find the source of the leak? Putting the mop to work while you await the plumber would seem sensible. However, not …

A New Year traditionally renews feelings of hope. Realism may dash hope so commentators feel pressured not to write gloomily during the Christmas/New Year season. My first column of last year invited a re-imagining of the possibilities of sustainable co-operation within communities. I had been departing from the subject of …

What do the deaths of the siblings Faith Peterkin, 10; Arianna Peterkin, 14; Shane Peterkin, 17; and Tiffany Peterkin, 19, have to do with our national budget? Does the death of Shazade Simon, the three-year-old who suffered burns in a cooking-related accident, have any relevance to our budget discussions? What about …

As long ago as 2007, readers of this column were introduced to the phrase “breakdown of ordered legal control in the face of anarchy or banditry” as I began my predictions about where we were headed. The phrase belongs to Professor HLA Hart, who was a famous professor of Jurisprudence …

“[…] As at June 1993, police reports revealed that there were 13 rapes in Central Trinidad. Five of the 13 rapes had been committed by East Indian men, and one of the seven women raped by masked men was of African descent. “[…] Forward to 2023, a religious leader of …

“[…] We may want to pin it on social injustice or income inequality, but the truth of the matter is that the people of Trinidad and Tobago have a protracted and sustained attitude of lawlessness. “It is why I believe that ‘Discipline’ was inscribed as part of our national watchwords—because …

During an Easter Sunday break from my column, I was forcibly struck by the disconnect between the official messages about Easter from those clothed with high constitutional authority and the grim reality on the ground. Many persons would have been engaged in pleasurable activities over the Easter weekend. However, the …