Reactive policing, uncooperative people and no pressure from cabinet and the parliamentarians

Introduction

I have written several articles on crime. Sometimes it feels like it is going on deaf ears but I will not stop writing because we must not remain silent and watch the murder of loved ones becoming another statistic. Last week, my wife’s uncle was murdered and to date no one has been arrested for this heinous crime. I felt that so much not just because he was my uncle, but it could have been me and it could have been you. When I saw his daughters entering the doors of the hospital, I cried because that could have been my children doing the same thing for me because you don’t know who these murderers are and when the next murder will take place.

There are too many unresolved crimes in the Turks and Caicos. While it is true that the number of murders for 2021 has decreased compared to the prior years, one murder is too much for a small place like the Turks and Caicos Islands. The sad thing is that we are not finding the murderers and so murders continue to take place and it is probably because the same set of people are committing the acts and roaming the country freely.

I cannot comprehend as to why a small place like the Turks and Caicos is unable to find these murderers while large countries like Jamaica and Bahamas are able to capture their criminals despite their crime rates. Therefore, I have concluded that the reason why we are not resolving crimes is due to reactive policing, people in the community not being cooperative and there is no pressure from the cabinet and the parliamentarians on the police force.

Reactive Policing

Due to lack of communication from the Royal Police, it appears that the police is very reactive. They react only after a crime is committed. After a crime is committed, the Police would start something and then discontinue it. How many times have we seen the police in our community and in high traffic areas? The criminals are observing the policing of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police and hence they continue to commit crimes and get away with them. It is the criminals who are been very proactive while the police is being reactive. If the police wants crimes to be resolved they need to be proactive. They need undercover cops in strategic locations. They need to keep the public abreast of what is happening. They need to be visible in the communities on a continuous basis and develop trust between the police and the people in the community. They need to make their requests to the Government on what they think they need to alleviate crime in this place. I believe no matter who the Government of the day is, they will hour the requests of the Police. The Police need to create fear among the criminals because at the moment, the criminals are not afraid of the police. Whatever they are doing are not working and because it is not working they need to try something different.

Uncooperative people in the community

I believe some people in the community are cooperative but many people are not. The truth is in order for the Police to capture these criminals, they will need cooperation from the people. Somebody in the community knows what is happening and does not report the crime. There are many reasons why people do not report crime. Some people are afraid. Some people do not trust the police. Some of the people committing the crimes are friends and family members and so they do not want to turn them in. However, because you know who committed the crime and does not report it, you are having a murderer on the loose. We need to cooperate with the police and report the crime. Be very careful because the same person that you are hiding or withholding information from the police, may end up killing you.

No pressure from the cabinet and the Parliamentarians.

I don’t think there is any pressure on the Police officers to resolve crimes. The Governor has stated that he is happy with the Commissioner of Police and even if he resigns he will not accept this resignation. The Parliamentarians are saying that they do not have direct control over the Police because it falls under the Governor.  While this is true, I do not accept this as a valid reason for our elected officials to deal with crime. I know for sure both political parties have been cooperative with the police department by granting them their wish list. Therefore, I believe the Parliamentarians must put pressure on the Governor and in turn the Governor must put pressure on the Commissioner of Police. It does not appear there is any pressure on the police.  When did we ever terminate the contract of police officers for nonperformance? We continue to renew and extend contracts even if they are not performing. Maybe the relationship among the Police, the Governor and the Parliamentarians are too close and too friendly that they do not have the boldness to apply pressure to the Police.

Pressure on the Police can also mean the firing of some individuals in the Police Department and maybe those that replace them will work harder because they do not want to get fired as that will not look good on their records.

Conclusion

I know there is a lot of blaming going on when it comes to solving crimes but the truth is the Government must pressure the police as they have supply all the human resources and equipment they requested to reduce crime. On the other hand, the police cannot solve the crime if the people do not cooperate and provide the necessary evidence to capture the criminals. Therefore you see, it is not one arm that is responsible for solving crimes, it is all of us. However, the Government and the Police need to provide us with hope. Maybe things are getting better but from the outside, we do not know and the only way we will know if they communicate with the public. I know there is not an oversight solution or one answer for solving crimes, however, the situation in Turks and Caicos has been going on for years whereby people are committing murders and not being caught.