Questions for The Bahamas Minister of National Security!

Jerome Pinder (http://www.weblogbahamas.com)

Have you ever read the report from the National Advisory Council on Crime dated the 28th November 2008? At first I thought the committee must have been commissioned under the former administration, and for this reason, the current administration chose to ignore it. However, the committee was appointed by the current Minister on the 3rd December 2007. Is this report simply catching dust like those before it?  For Example: The National Commission on Crime (1998) / The National Assembly on Crime (2007) / The National Youth Forum on Crime (2008).

The report is well worth the read and it is obvious that the committee put considerable effort into this project. It is unfortunate that one must assume that the report has been completely ignored by the Government.

While this is not a complete list, here are some of my questions to the Minister:

• What efforts have been undertaken by the Government to shorten the time between arrest and trial?
• Are there any plans in place to establish a DNA Laboratory for the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF)?
• Does a member of the Public serve in the Police Internal Investigation Process?  If not, is this being considered?
• Have any changes been made at the AG's office to attract competent attorneys?
• Would the Government consider Community Courts for Minor Offenses?
• Are we or are we not going to carry out Capital Punishment as it is on our Law Books?
• Are we going to establish a gang intervention and prevention program?

And the questions could go on and on................

The last question as it relates to Gangs is an interesting one. It is interesting because the report is signed off by Mr. Carlos Reid on the 28th November 2008. On the 27th September 2009, almost one year later, Mr. Carlos Reid spoke at the dedication service for the Memorial Wall at New Covenant Baptist Church. During his remarks he basically pleaded with the Minister to form a Gang Unit within the RBPF. Obviously, he felt that we have not done enough since this report was presented almost one year ago.

No doubt, it is almost an impossible task to take on all the initiatives presented in the report in their entirety. However, there is no reason why we cannot take on one initiative at a time. We have already lost one year, and obviously up to today's date the committee was appointed as a Public Relations Stunt, which is disrespectful to both its members and the Public at Large.

Please Mr. Minister, take the report off your shelf and dust it off!!