Tag Archives: murder rate

The “well-coordinated hit with pinpoint accuracy” that felled Randall Hector was entirely predictable. The roots of this current situation started with the 2011 State of Emergency. Then, the Attorney General told us: “When the state of emergency was declared by His Excellency, it was in response to intelligence received from …

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley gave a superficial description of our country’s state of narco-infiltrated crime to the media on Friday last before his melodramatic announcement of his intended resignation from office as prime minister “before the end of the legal limits of this term” and his departure from electoral …

“[…] We are staring at a deeply wounded nation. Many are concerned mainly about the impact on business and the nation’s economy from direct effects of serious crime. But there is a more massive problem lurking. “The mental health implications of the rising homicide rate in Trinidad and Tobago extend …

As readers are aware, I take an empathetic side with those who are dealt blows in a society, which—although mitigated somewhat by the prodigious work of volunteers and the voluntary organisations—has a cruelly indifferent socio-economic structure compounded by unenlightened governance. As recently as April this year, in connection with the …

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 …

For some weeks this column had been focused on the good, the bad and the ugly of Carnival and its component parts. Last week, I returned to commentary on the government charades that are passed off as effective governance—on that occasion, dealing with the haphazard situation in respect of the …

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 …

My close friends are worried for the safety of commentators on violent crime. In my case, they firmly believe that I have done enough in analysing the untouched core of criminal activity. At that core, regardless of which political party is in government, is the troubling intersection of party politics, …

In a column published 20 years ago, in mid-May 2003, I described the subject of crime as priority numbers one, two, three, four, five and six. The column went on to identify to which aspect of crime each of the numbers related. Number one was, of course, the murder rate. …

“[…] 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 …

“[…] Trinbagonians have consistently failed to address the root causes of their [crime] problems, remaining trapped in unproductive cycles. It may be startling for them to learn that they themselves contribute to their own situation. “But a divided nation is a nation to be ruled by the monumentally corrupt. That …

Put plainly and simply, it is not possible to maintain the socio-economic status quo and at the same time expect to reduce violent crime. That is one reason why the announcement by the Prime Minister that there will be “talks” on crime is not impressive. This announcement was made in …