- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - Hier 06:10

PM’s anti-crime ‘Big Five’

Before getting into public expectations for Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s expanded public safety apparatus and the new commissioner of police, I wish to refer to my pick for the political firecracker comment of the week. AG John Jeremie’s “I will go to war” threat against PNM opposition members during last Wednesday’s parliamentary sitting has serious political and legal implications. During the mid-year budget debate, he issued the hair-raising threat: “When ‘criminal wrongdoing is alleged’, I don’t mind you looking at me, I am happy. But when you look at the Prime Minister and political leader of the United National Congress, a grandmother who has served this country for however long, never had one scandal raised against her, I will go to war with you.” In other words, don’t test him. Don’t mistake his calmness for weakness. Quietly sitting next to him, the protected PM was a picture of reflective serenity. A surprisingly stern-faced Jeremie, pointing his finger at three PNM members, separately declared: “I will go to war with you, I will go to war with you. I will go to war with you.” (Very loud desk-thumping by UNC members). Why Mr Jeremie? This bold, face-to-face threat looked as intriguing as when the late MP Bhadase Sagan Maraj laid his gun on his table in Parliament. The usually mild-mannered former PNM AG explained that one month – and in some cases – one week before the April 28 election, “legal instructions were issued by individuals who no longer sit in Parliament.” According to Jeremie, the “legal instructions” were apparently against UNC members Dr Michael Dowlath, Persad-Bissessar and him – an action which “might amount to misconduct of office.” Jeremie didn’t yet specify the “legal instructions.” But people kept asking. He pledged “an investigation” even though the “criminal wrongdoing” so far remained unclear. It looked like something serious for the AG to threaten “going to war” in order to defend “the mother of the nation.” To all this, former finance minister and now PNM opposition member, the indomitable Colm Imbert, describing Jeremie’s comments as “filled with emptiness,” remarked: “He has decreed that this is misbehaviour in public office and he will go to war with members opposite and he is making sure that all these matters will be removed from the record.” What matters? “We shall see about that. We shall see,” added Imbert. Maybe, when Jeremie does the “investigation,” the country will hear more. Now on crime. It will be a rough road ahead for new Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro, given the yet unsolved problems within the police service and the inefficiencies in the other crime-related institutions. Not only gangs and school violence, but other serious crimes have become so rooted in the society that it will be worse than pulling teeth. He will need all the help he can get – from the government and the citizens. Given the heated exchanges during last week’s Parliament sitting and public reactions, it seems that Persad-Bissessar and her new government will also face a rough road ahead – pressed to answer early questions on crime, campaign promises, finance and the economy, education, and all this, while facing a “$9.6 billion budget deficit.” As an unprecedented, expanded public safety move, Persad-Bissessar has deployed three front-line ministries – Roger Alexander as Minister of Homeland Security, Vedesh Maharaj as Minister of Justice, Wayne Sturge as Minister of Defence – all three related to Saddam Hosein’s Ministry of Legal Affairs. The crime prevention roles of the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Social Development must be involved to help turn the fight against crime into a holistic government mission. It now depends on how efficiently and effectively this expanded sea-to-land anti-crime configuration can be made to work for specific outcomes yet with the coordination and accountability required. While the PM’s National Security Council has its top-level role, the expanded public safety apparatus requires timely and synergic management lower down. The crime-fighting ministries listed above and commissioner of police – the “Big Five,” should meet in the early instance every fortnight then once a month under the chairmanship of the Ministry of Homeland Security or Ministry of Justice for strategic, coordinated planning and operations. CoP Guevarro, too, will have to manage the three deputy commissioners (operations, administration, intelligence) to help correct the wrongs within the police service and fight crime as he promised, but equally important now is to improve the detection rates, especially for murder. The public anxiously awaits the results within a year from both the government and the police commissioner. Don’t take the public’s silence for weakness. The post PM’s anti-crime ‘Big Five’ appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.