Is there a tendency in Saint Lucia to over-rely on law-and-order responses to crime and violence, as opposed to other, more prevention-oriented approaches?
Yes! There is such a tendency. The need for some sort of intervention, unlike the usual law-and-order responses, has been repeated many times over the years by many, even politicians, to be fair. Frankly, there appears to be general consensus in country that outside-the-box type of thinking is needed, now more than ever, to control crime on the island.
We remembered that it was the recognition of an over reliance on police to fight crime that the idea of a crime symposium was floated in 2017. The government then felt it was a good thing and ran with the idea. A whole set of prevention-oriented approaches came out of that symposium from a wide range of people including ministry officials, the then opposition, representatives from correctional facilities, the police force, the Christian and Rastafarian communities, the media and others. A new day for crime prevention appeared to be on the horizon.
The government then boldly stated that the recommendations would be taken into consideration and not sit on shelves gathering dust. There was a general feeling that finally, a serious approach to tackling crime was in the making, never mind that same year Saint Lucia was well on its way to recording the highest homicide rate in its history (60) at the time.
Then the symposium hype faded and back the country went to relying primarily on the police force to take care of crime and violence within its borders. It is now four years since the crime symposium, and sadly the crime situation in Saint Lucia has not changed for the better. It is so bad now that last year’s homicides numbers have passed the 2017 record. The island last year recorded 74 homicides.
Not even the criminal justice system, it seems, is a force to be reckoned with in reducing crime on the island, despite it being an essential tool in crime and violence control and, to some extent, in their prevention. Can we positively say that the criminal justice system in Saint Lucia has had a real impact on reducing crime?
We reiterate, the crime situation in Saint Lucia is grim, and if last year’s homicide statistic can be used as a yardstick to determine how bad the crime situation is on island, then we know that the situation is bad, and if we are true to ourselves, we will say it is worsening.
We are in the second month of 2022 and already violent gunplay has resulted in seven homicides and contributes to growing fear which reverberates throughout the country. While there is no silver bullet that will reduce crime, much less eliminate it, we cannot just stay inactive.
Therefore, we applaud the government for recognising that crime is a serious problem on island and promising to deal with the problem. We hope that government’s attack on crime is not through the use of the same old methods the criminals know all too well. We hope the metaphor ‘thinking outside the box’ is used in devising new ways of dealing with the problem.
We also hope that government has the political will to tackle crime head on and that such a promise is not merely talk.
But having political will is not enough. Such a will needs to be reinforced by stakeholder support. The various institutions on island must work with government to defeat crime. Government must also work with the correctional facilities to not only prevent inmates from committing crime while in custody, but to work toward their rehabilitation so they will not commit crime on their return into society.
Thinking differently, unconventionally, or from a new perspective will certainly help the authorities in their efforts to effectively tackle crime as well. In other words, solving crime today calls for lateral thinking.
Whichever way the crime dice is played, one thing is certain: To fight crime effectively a different approach is needed other than the same old, same old.
Will the Pierre government be different from the governments that preceded it and kick the can down the road, or will it actually do something tangible to alter the balance in the fight against crime?