“… Because of his effective use of social media, [Gary Griffith] has received soaring popularity with some members of the public. “But is this popularity connected to results he has achieved, or is it based merely on optics? Specifically, has there been a significant decline in homicides or an increase …
Read More »Daly Bread: The acclamation of words; why we don’t need foreign experts to fight crime
As violent crime continues to overwhelm us, I noted last week the prime minister’s apparent adoption of the concept of violence as ‘a public health issue’ and his intention (unnecessarily as we shall see) to seek the assistance of a foreign expert on the subject. The concept has been around …
Read More »Daly Bread: From Bolsonaro to Griffith, are we tackling crime from the wrong end?
Approximately one year ago, shortly after his appointment, Commissioner of Police, Gary Griffith likened the criminal elements to ‘cockroaches’ and added that those cockroaches should be ‘crushed’. The Commissioner has company. The following report appeared last week in the UK Guardian newspaper: “Brazil’s far-right President, Jair Bolsonaro, has said he …
Read More »Salaam: What protests can really mean for UWI; why Guild should think beyond compound
It’s five degrees and blustery in Brooklyn this morning and this warm-blooded Trini is cold and freezing. But as I scan the headlines, the temperature is hot and sweltering in St Augustine as UWI students responded to the lack of safety and security on the campus in the wake of …
Read More »Dear Editor: Did Police act lawfully to find Imbert’s phone? And what about other victims of crime?
“Is the prostitution of the police by the political directorate such that the police are only animated to act effectively when a Minister of Government is affected by crime? The country ravaged by criminal activities including brutal killings have not seen similar alacrity by the police to solve these crimes that …
Read More »Master’s Voice: Racism comes in more than one colour and is not just skin-deep
“The vast and overcrowded peninsula of India […] is in its native condition most miserable and no better in a moral point of view, as exhibited in the picture which Sir Emerson Tennet draws of the Tamils of Ceylon: ‘[…] Sensuality and gain are the two passions of their existence, …
Read More »SALAAM: Talk yuh talk, Madam President; but when will T&T see the light? When will the wicked no longer reign?
In a powerful and moving maiden address to the nation she now heads, newly installed President Paula-Mae Weekes urged us all to “…confront the darkness and declare that it will not take over.” I wonder about her tense. From early boyhood, I have repeatedly heard that what is to is must …
Read More »Dear Editor: Enough! Time for Arima to walk the talk and stop criminals in their tracks
“The anti-violence walk has now been transformed into the more positive ‘Arima Walk for Peace’ and the timeliness of the call to Arima people to join with us—this hits a raw nerve—will be seen tomorrow when we expect to actively involve many hundreds of ordinary, decent, hard-working people in a …
Read More »Dear Editor: Anti-Gang Bill no panacea for crime; change of culture of Police Service needed
“The Anti-Gang Bill, sunset clause or not, suffers from the same ills as every other piece of legislation in Trinidad and Tobago: to be effective, it must be enforced! For enforcement to take place, the Police Service needs to do a better job, a much, much better job. To ascertain …
Read More »Dear Editor: Requiem for my murdered sisters on International Women’s Day
“[…] I have no good wishes or aspirational sentiments. I’m not checking milestones women have achieved or the records we have smashed… I am preoccupied by our extinction at the hands of our men—our husbands, partners, baby fathers, lovers. “Who can celebrate on Women’s Day when there is so much …
Read More »Dear Editor: What’s TTPS’ plan, Mr CoP, for pulling back runaway murder and crime?
“If the current average rate of about two per day is sustained, by the end of the year, we can expect there will be some 700 homicides (aka murders). (But) that sort of figure is plainly ridiculous, outrageous for a country with only some 1.3 million people.” The following Letter …
Read More »No Holders Barred: Commandment to unwed girls: Thou shalt not open thy legs!
My heart is breaking for that young woman. You don’t know how it breaks my heart to know that the Ph.D student whose car was stolen some days ago recovered the vehicle but without her marine samples and research. It truly hurts. Although I don’t have a doctorate—yet!— I can …
Read More »