Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Your contribution to crime in sweet T&T

Trinidadians love to complain about the crime situation in Trinidad and Tobago. But how many of us realize how much we ourselves contribute to the crime. There are some ads that I love in the daily news papers entitled “Fix the Me in Crime”. The little things we do on a daily basis that are against the law. Driving on the shoulder, littering, illegal parking, blocking the intersection when there is nowhere to go.

Every police officer standing on the shoulder so that we don’t use it as an additional lane is one less to treat with “serious” criminal offences. The police force and other protective services that we have are only so big and are constantly facing challenges of resource shortages. when a man or woman abuses their spouse a police officer has to get involved in some why once a report is made to the Police Station.

Then there is the other angle where Police officers are sometimes not assisted by members of the public. If you do not work with the police then they cannot do their jobs effectively. For example we are aware of certain things happening in our neighbourhoods and we as responsible citizens do not make a report in the nearest police station. Police cannot be everywhere for obvious reasons and we have to do our part to help them.

I am of the view however that a lot more can be done by local law enforcement to reduce the levels of crime and violence in this country that I love. But I have no control over the decisions taken and the policies implemented to reduce crime. So for now what I can do is take control of myself and be aware of the little things that I may be doing to make the situation worst and put a stop to it. Even with our friends and family we have to encourage them to do the right thing. Too often doing the wrong thing is glorified while doing the right thing is frowned upon.

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