CRIME and its Impact on the city of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad

Police vehicle at the corner

"T&T is facing a national crisis as the murder rate continues to soar. There were 70 murders in the last 52 days of this year, with 13 of those being killed within a week—from February 15 to 22. Saying that the crime situation was a concern to him, retired Chief of Defense Staff Brig Carl Alfonso said T&T was now “facing a national crisis.”

“The thing (crime) has gotten out of hand. It seems to be getting worse. More drastic action has to be taken. Clearly the fight now has to be taken to them (criminals)...” It is no secret that crime, Alfonso said, was being heightened by gang warfare, drugs and guns. 

“There seems to be too many illegal weapons on the streets and we must deal with that in a more forceful way.” Alfonso said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s call on Friday for an increase in police and army patrols on the streets to bring a sense of comfort to citizens was a step in the right direction. He was confident that once these two enforcement agencies worked together crime can decrease." This quote came from a reporter of the Guardian Newspaper on the 24th February.

"The Laventille area gripped in a bloody gang warfare, that's already claimed the lives of half the country's murder  victims for the year so far- a joint police operation comprising several departments locked down the area for six hours today for random searches of people, homes and vehicles, as they attempt to stem the killings." January 30th quote from the Express Newspaper.

These two newspaper quotes are describing the state of the country at present particularly on the marginal section of the city, where Laventille is situated. There seems to be no end to the problem of crime since the government has been trying, form there inception into power to formulate a plan that will deal with the problem of CRIME. However, nothing seems to be working and resources and money is continuously being channeled into the Security Ministry and to date no improvements or results have reduced the violence!

Why is it that crime is so difficult to solve? There are so many factors that contributed to this unemployment, discrimination, stereotyping of persons from these communities, neglect by government, those persons who are interested in obtaining the property found in the periphery of the city and the financiers of most of these gangs who are the suppliers of the drugs and guns that are being found in these communities. 

When one assesses the Laventille area, for many years it has been the view of many businessmen that Laventille and areas surrounding the city are deemed as ideal areas that offer a fantastic view of the city area and investors are interested in developing these areas. But there is a problem the current occupants!

The only way to remove these persons is through making the area seem as undesirable for  settlement. This is being done putting drugs and guns into the hands of the youths, who are the one involved in the crime. When one really analyses the situation, these persons lack the knowledge, finance and connections that are needed to bring these items into the country and to distribute them to persons in the various communities. It is only the influential businessmen and even those who hold important post in society who have the capabilities to organize, distribute and influence the people in these communities to perform these activities. Crime is organised it's does not just happen! 

When the crime in an area is continuously highlighted in the media it influences the thoughts of others in other areas of the country, making persons fearful and reluctant to want to venture into these places or even purchase property in these places. This reduces the property value in these area,s allowing the elite to now be able to purchase the property at a low value, when these persons leave, thereby achieving their goal.

Then the government comes on the news and blames the people in these communities for being responsible for the escalation of the crime in the country. Then police and soldiers are sent to these areas to maintain order. In most instances, some of these same said police and soldiers are involved in distribution of drugs and guns in these communities. The people themselves are to blame as they allow themselves to be easily engulfed into the destruction of their own community.
In concluding the escalating crime situation in the country have been created from the socio-economic factors that influences the manner in which citizens view themselves and transfer this to the wider community. The government needs to stop blaming only a specific area of the country for the crime problem because crime has been allowed to spiral out of control as too many economic activities would be affected if crime is reduced. The interlinks with crime and industry are to intertwined, so that the problem of crime will continue to exist in a country as inequality must be maintained. The crime is closer to the city as the greatest disparities and unevenness in distribution of wealth occurs generally in this areas and it spreads to the other areas of the country as these persons seek to expand their influence and control.