Letters & Opinion, Sounding Off

Stand Up to Crime, St. Lucia

Image of Rochelle Gonzales
Image of Rochelle Gonzales
By Rochelle Gonzales

LAW abiding Lucians, stand up! I am sick of this crime scourge that is beginning to strangle our beautiful nation…the same way they strangled Rose Anne Raymond!

When are we as a people going to stop being doormats?

When are we as a collective going to stop with all the talk and actually take action?

When are we going to stop being selfish by caring about our own welfare whilst staying segregated and allowing criminals to pick us off one by one?

When are you people going to wake up and stop sitting on your hands doing nothing whilst your eyes dart left to right, looking to see who will budge first.

In the meantime, we are allowing the disease of crime to spread and fester whilst we focus on each other’s business and all other nonsensical issues that contribute nothing to the wellbeing of our nation.

Someone raised a good point on Social Media, stating that these criminals are causing the rest of the population to become just as horrible as they are because now, people are so concerned for their own safety, that they will think thrice before being a good Samaritan….you can’t even trust a person seemingly in distress along the side of the road, because they could very well be bait whilst the predators lie out of sight in wait to pounce and kill.

When did we become like the U.S? Seemingly, we have a bad case of serial killers, rapists and robbers.

And oh my goodness, I am all for human rights, but I have had it up to my eyeballs with the political correctness garbage that has caused people to become soft and spineless apologists.

In one week…one week, tiny St. Lucia saw a tourist, in broad daylight get dragged around and robbed by three young males who even had the audacity to threaten a would be good Samaritan (you see, there you have it again, soon the concept of being your brother’s keeper will no longer exist), we had the death of 57 year old Anse la Raye resident Hippolyte Glasgow after a robbery, and then we have the murder of 76 year old Rose Anne Raymond.

Now all murders are horrific, but this one struck an extra nerve, because in this case, we have a senior citizen who was not only robbed, but according to solid sources, she was also raped and then strangled to death.

Now matters like these, this is where I butt heads and in some cases, want to burst heads, because you will always get a few bleeding hearts, including a friend of mine (whom I will never see eye to eye with on such matters so we just agree to disagree, because we will argue for days), who will come out and call for these perpetrators to be cared for and given special attention…not even at Bordelais, but special attention to treat their deep rooted problem, since incarceration is not going to fix the problem.

Well, I slightly agree with that sentiment, that Bordelais is not the place for them…they belong in an unmarked grave after they have been humanely euthanised, because our streets are already plagued with sick animals, I don’t want to spend my hard earned money paying Bordelais to feed and look after the rabid kind that run around on two legs robbing, raping and killing whomever they can get their hands on.

And by the way, I just feel the need to say that I was in no way referring to Mary Francis when I spoke about the bleeding hearts…I have nothing but admiration and respect for that lady, and I truly think she deserves a medal of honour for all what she does for human rights in St. Lucia.

Now back to what I was saying, I really have no time and tolerance for PC anymore, it’s time that people stand up and shout about this growing crime problem until we are heard and we see serious action taking place.

I am not calling for people to be unlawful, or for another bout of ORC where killings were allegedly indiscrimate, but if you are going to take out the cockroaches, use roach bait or roach powder and not a nuclear bomb in areas that cockroaches are known to roam…know what I mean?

Also, tasers should be legal because I know for sure that I would feel safer and more satisfied knowing that I can deliver swift justice of 50,000 volts of electricity to the groin of a man who tries to sexually assault me.

Women assemble! Let’s come together and do something about the sharp rise in crime against women and children. Let us put our heads together and come up with plans and steps so that we can protect ourselves and each other from this clear and present danger…it is real out there!

Men assemble! Put your heads together to figure out ways in which you can encourage young men to do better in life, to uplift and make them realise that their time and energy can be put to good use that can give them comfortable lives legally.

Empower each other and teach each other that you don’t have to brutalise, rape or abuse women and children in any way to feel like a powerful man, but instead it takes respect, love and a sense of responsibility to raise and maintain a family.

Teach the young men that women are not objects that can be tampered with whenever you feel simply because she exposed skin, or was drunk, or she came on to you and was “asking for it”…even though she is only 12 years old.

With that said, ladies, be responsible. I am not going to tell you how to dress because no matter how you are dressed, no one has the right to assault you! Let’s just get that clear, but on the other hand, be aware of your surroundings and act accordingly and responsible. If you’re at a beach party and you’re going home late, for goodness sake, don’t go off on your own, and don’t go out and get so drunk that you are unable to defend yourselves if needs be. It is sick out there so always be vigilant and don’t invite trouble where it is not wanted.

We in St. Lucia are suffering because of stigma and we need to break that chain.

Too long do we sit back and shrug matters off because “It has been going on for a long time and nothing will change it.” Well as long as this is the attitude of the masses, you’re damn right that nothing will change.

We need to fight back against crime, people, and if the police and politicians are too scared to do it, then we need to come up with ways that we can cure this land ourselves because if we don’t look out for our nation, who else will?

And if that is not enough just think about the impact that your inaction will have on your children…you think it’s bad now? Imagine what it will be like watching them get raped, robbed and murdered and there is nothing you can do about it then, because at the time when you could have taken action, you were too chicken to even cluck!

Let that simmer in your minds and tell me that you are willing to let it all continue because it has been going on for so long…are you willing to continue telling yourself that there is nothing you can do? Or are you willing to be part of the generation that took our country back?!

Rochelle entered the Media fraternity in May 2011 as a fresh-faced young woman with a passion for the English language, a thirst for worldly knowledge and a longing to inform the world of what was happening around them, whether it was good or bad.

She began as part of a small news team at Choice Television, which falls under the MediaZone umbrella. She was hired as one of the original members of the newly created Choice News Now team...Read full bio...

 

1 Comment

  1. Rochelle,
    Public attitude and willingness to help, largely depends on public percepton of their OWN safety once they have made a decision to assist. In other words they fear retribution. Another motivator to help is personal financial gain. While all these unlicensed guns remain in criminal hands, do not expect a change. The first part of the equation in addressing crime would be to tackle the gun problem. Voilla! It is the greatest threat. This is not science.
    Addressing the gun problem has two principal approaches. (a) Mandatory long prison sentences that essentially warehouse criminals, and rehabilitate those that show positive behaviors. Everyone can never be saved, because not everyone wants to be saved. This first step has a deterrent value. The next approach (b) deals with policing strategy. Stop and Frisk and roadside searches will get your weapons. Why on earth were these two strategies kept on back burners all this time? This is the money.
    Instead of fooling around with anti-gang garbage, real rubber hits the road strategies should have been in place. The lesson learned, never send a boy to do a man’s job.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Send this to a friend