Dear Editor,
Many lament the increase in crimes in our country, and rightly so. The question begs asking though:
What are those very people who express these concerns doing in their communities to arrest the situation?
Criminals, petty or hardcore, come from our communities, from our midst. We are aware of them. But we choose to keep our mouths shut and expect the Minister of Home Affairs and the Police to dream up who committed crimes.
Communities must share in the responsibility to fight crime by: for example, passing information/intelligence to the Police, by confronting illegalities in the infant stages, etc.
Can we deny that in our own communities, we pass youths gambling, residents blocking the roadways with building materials, kids using profanity, use of narco substances? And the list goes on. Has the great majority in our communities ever lifted a finger to stop any of the above? No! They leave it for others to do and they lurk by the wayside to pounce on those who have the testicular fortitude to try to do something. Very, very often those who complain the most are those who do little or nothing to make a contribution to their communities.
It is in this light that I must differ with Stabroek News’ editorial (July 27) which sees the current fan-out exercise by the National Commission on Law and Order as looking at the “lighter side of crime”.
These visits have resulted in many positives. But I concede, though, that the exercise (and the one two years ago) also exposes the lethargy in our communities. The people will gripe, but will not get involved in Community Policing or take up positions as Neighbourhood Police. They remain silent on petty infringements around them, but when the petty criminals graduate to graver crimes they want others to be the exorcists.
I am therefore emphatic in my position that if we allow small-time crimes to go unchecked in our communities, we are breeding big time criminals and monsters who will prey not only on us, but on the entire society. That is our reality today.
Thus, it is obligatory on all and sundry to assist in crime-fighting. Expose those who engage in crimes in our communities.
It is our individual and collective responsibility. The Community has a duty to assist in providing security for itself.
Get involved now or perish!
Yours faithfully,
T. Jadunauth
