WHY ROWLEY-KAMLA CRIME TALKS SET TO FAIL

OPPOSITION Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar is proposing a radical overhaul of the national security system.

Ms. Persad-Bissessar wants new or improved laws to protect citizens, a more effective policing system, and an end to political interference in relevant agencies.

She would like to make it easier for citizens to bear arms.

A new approach to recruiting police officers, employing more municipal lawmen, and placing cops in schools are among her proposals.

She wants reform of the bail and witness protection systems and the use of ankle bracelets and house arrests.

She is advocating a new forensic science centre, support for children of incarcerated parents, and a fund for those who lost their parents to crime.

A minimum security prison for non-violent accused who cannot obtain bail is included in her suggestions.

The Opposition Leader is recommending an extensive review of policy, legislative, and operational measures, along with social services measures.

She said that during her tenure, “serious crimes were brought down to the lowest in decades.”

The anti-crime recommendations are not likely to play well with Rowley, who has already dismissed the proposals as “voluminous” and as having “fictional inclusions.”

Previous Government-Opposition dialogue on crime has not achieved much.

Neither has the bi-partisan parliamentary committee on national security. 

The Rowley administration is not expected to support Ms. Persad-Bissessar’s proposition on Stand Your Ground and Home Invasion legislation.

The Prime Minister is likely to reject the assertion of political interference in “formerly independent institutions and the national security apparatus.”

He is almost sure to turn down the Opposition Leader’s conclusion that national security resources are inadequate or not properly managed.

She wants management by objectives, training and recruitment.

Ms. Persad-Bissessar advice on splitting the Ministry of National Security into Ministries of Home Affairs, Defence, and Justice may not get traction with Rowley.

Generally, the Opposition Leader wants a holistic revamping of the current system, which has led to rampant crime, poor detection, and a slow pace of justice.

Dr. Rowley’s administration has made piecemeal changes to the crime-fighting mechanism and has dubbed the crisis a “public health issue,” although that term has never been defined.

At a Caricom conference on crime in Port of Spain in April, other regional leaders adopted the lingo, again without explanation.

The Prime Minister told the United Nations General Assembly a couple weeks ago that domestic crime was closely linked to drug- and gun-running in the United States, and he implored that country to act.

That assertion was seen by some as a meek surrender to the marauding criminals. 

Interestingly, US institutions, including the Drug Enforcement Agency, have led the major crime and drug busts in recent months.

They include the seizure of cocaine and heroin and a crackdown on a meth laboratory and a “ghost gun” factory.

In order for the Opposition Leader’s proposals to have teeth, the Prime Minister must be prepared to critically review all aspects of national security, and not undertake minor revisions.

There must be purposeful and detailed discussions, and not just photo opportunities and political grandstanding.

No reasonable person expects that from the Rowley Government, which has permitted the crime nightmare to worsen over eight years.

The much-touted crime discussions are, therefore, set to fail.