PLP To Launch ‘Informed Task Group’ On Crime
The Progressive Labour Party announced that they are going to launch a new Task Group on Crime to investigate the various aspects of shootings, and to “develop recommendations that are strong and effective in creating a lasting peace.”
Shadow Public Safety Minister Michael Scott said, “The country is weary of the shootings, the violence and the conflict that is dividing and slaying our fellow Bermudians.
“Families have been traumatized and the Bermuda Police Service is pushed to the limit in investigating and bringing the perpetrators to justice. We must find new solutions to end the shootings and get guns and bullets off our streets.
“In this connection as Shadow Minister of Public Safety I will strike an Informed Task Group to address and investigate the features of Bermuda shootings in all of its aspects. We will find solutions and develop recommendations that are strong and effective in creating a lasting peace.
“We extend condolences to the victim’s family and I encourage witnesses or those who have any knowledge that could lead to the arrest and conviction of the murderers to please come forward.”
heared it all before!
Yep, they can bring their vast experience of getting it hopelessly wrong, and somehow come out with all the answers.
We haven’t forgotten that you caused this PLP.
Heard!
jeez..I need more coffee!
Because the PLP knows so much about fighting crime? More politics…
PLP plan to plan a plan AGAIN!
Who knows, look at the dismal results of the BPS
Let us hope this is a serious attempt to find viable solutions and not just a way for the ‘same old’ to get their faces and names in the news, so to get better set for the next election cycle.
Couldn’t think of a better, more knowledgeable, group to study crime. Will they be bringing a foreign expert in the field, from a little island near Rhode Island, to help them out?
Shadow Minister Michael Scott what a great “idea” to collaborate with the leading Party(O.B.A.) if not it will be viewed as just more, “pie in the sky” rhetoric being presented to we the public by the Opposition party,(Progressive Labour Party)
too little too late PLP….your turn is over, get over it.
A little late to come up with all these ideas now! – like 10 years to late’
had they come up with these idea’s some 10 years ago – maybe -just maybe we wouldn’t have had the level
of crime we have today.
The question that needs to be asked is what fuels gun violence on the island. Most people would agree that it is a mostly as a result gang activity, which is linked to the illicit drug trade. Drug dealing is a very lucrative employ on the island, with rival gangs getting involved in regular skirmishes and alas, shooting incidents, all for the sake of securing or acquiring turf, or as acts of revenge/retaliation. Maybe if the profit was taken away from drug-dealing, this might positively impact the incidence of shootings and other violent crime. There might be a simple solution, but it would take political courage (testicular fortitude as it were) to implement. Bermuda perhaps needs to follow the lead set by Washington State and Colorado (in relation to legalizing small amounts of marijuana for recreational use) or California and the host of other states (that have legalized marijuana for medicinal use). If the requisite legislation is passed, there can then be vigorous regulation and taxation, accompanied by an education campaign to steer our youngsters away from this particular lifestyle choice. I am painfully aware that there are other hard drugs that the above-mentioned lesligation would not cover, but based on my limited knowledge, i believe that marijuana is the drug of choice here, so I am somewhat convinced that if we affect the illicit drug dealers’ ability to profit from its trade, we will be successful in making a significant dent in the incidence of shootings. The economy could also benefit from the additional positive ‘spin-off’ effects (increased revenue collection for government through taxation and the potential to attract a more vast and varied pool of tourists, are two that I can immediately think of). It would be refreshing if both parties could work together to implement my recommendation, as both have a stake in Bermuda’s future security and economic well-being. Crime and the perception of crime does have the potential to negatively affect Bermuda’s two main economic pillars. In fact, they have already started to do so.
Maybe marijuana reform in Bermuda can even be taken a step further. Too many of our young people are criminalized for having a small joint for personal use. In most instances that individual is doing no harm to society, especially if they partake of it in the confines of their home . These young Bermudians (several with very great potential) are then disadvantaged when it comes to applying for jobs, or when they want to get away from the rock for a while, to clear their heads and returned refreshed and reinvigorated. Once they are caught by police, they are more than likely automatically placed on the stop list. We seem to punish our young people harsher for minor marijuana infractions, than most other countries, even the US itself. How many Amaricans are put on any form of stop list for being caught with a marijuana cigarette. What prevails here. presently is a vicious cycle where some of those same young men who are on the stop-list, feel so disadvantaged by the system that they link with the wrong crowd, due to the fact that they are stuck on the island they then resort to all types of undesirable activity to pass the time. While I believe in the rule of law and that there should be requisite punishments/consequences for crimes that are legislated, I believe that this particular subject matter / legislation is ripe for review. The timing ( with all the present developments going on in the world In relation to this subject matter) as well as the more recent paradigm shift as regards the potentially usefulness of the herb , it is full time that we in Bermuda take a serious, hard look at the way forward from here on in. Please see article link below.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20130916/lead/lead3.html
Notwithstanding what I have said above, we should not ease up pressure on the illicit traders, smugglers, dealers, suppliers as well as the big fishes behind the various distribution operations. This is where government needs to step in and regulate the industry, implement relevant consumption taxes and embark on an education campaign geared to our up and coming youngsters.
What I would like to see a cessation of however, is tourists getting locked up on cruise ships, just because they has a small amount of marijuana for personal or medicinal use while on their vacation. Bermuda can I’ll afford to turn away potential tourists who want the freedom to properly unwind while on a cruise (something which most have saved up several years to accomplish). They will just choose another destination that is a little more accommodating another time. I must close by saying, that although I am a proponent for marijuana reform, I am definitely not a user. I am speaking off my general experience and common sense.
Look where Bermuda falls on this table of prison population rates, by country.
http://www.prisonstudies.org/info/worldbrief/wpb_stats.php?area=all&category=wb_poprate