Your Dominica morning news roundup for Friday September 19th 2008:
What is the whole of our police? That’s the question everyone is asking after a few recent incidents involving persons being held at gunpoint were drug related but some indications are that they are. Just over the weekend, a nurse and her friend was held at gunpoint and thrown at the back of a vehicle trunk because they may have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Yesterday DOMLEC announced a drop in the Fuel Surcharge from 67.85 cents per kilo watt hour in August to 62.93 cents in September. According to the Company, this recent reduction of oil prices on the world market will bring some relief to its consumers and to the company. How ironic of DOMLEC to make this announcement now. 🙄
On a lighter note – Reigning Carnival Queen Miss Marah Walter will leave the island today for Tortola to participate in the Miss Caribbean World Pageant carded for Saturday. Good Luck Sweetie ❗
One may say that the role of the police is to protect and serve. But sometimes they are not in a position for complete protection (they can’t be everywhere all the time) and may be hampered in their abilities to serve. I think the police should have less excuses now though in terms of mobility and response as supposedly they have more vehicles and better organization. However, unfortunately, Dominica has not gotten into that mode of emergency response yet. Is there even a national emergency number that people can readily relate to or remember?
Not unexpectedly, though, it looks like crime is trending upwards. We can no longer think that things like hold ups, vehicle theft etc, are for other societies. Some things, once they start, are here to stay regardless of police presence. Besides, potential criminals get new ideas all the time.
Despite our high expectations of the police, my advice would be for people to not take things for granted in terms of security or traditionally Dominica’s low crime rate. To be fair, we can only expect police presence in so many places. Nonetheless, given Dominica’s small size one would think that the police should be able to actively pursue and investigate a major crime like abduction immediately with many clues to be had from locals. On the island, it is amazingly easy for people to identify drivers for example, just from the vehicles they drive. Police can even make more active use of the state media and the internet, where necessary to aid in investigations and identifications. Maybe there is need for an outside (fresh) perspective as Commisioner. Any thoughts?
pete
I think that the community needs to be very careful not to fall into the trap of being afraid of the criminals (that is what has turned Mexico into a war zone). The police can only do their jobs with the help of the people. It is equally important to take drug addiction very seriously. People on drugs will commit crimes that would be unthinkable to them if they were not under the influence. Attempting to decrease the flow of drugs is always the traditional solution to this problem but I propose putting people in a position where they don’t want the drugs. If there is no demand there will be no need for the supply and that translates to a reduction of crime.
SKT
Poverty and lack of perceived opportunities also lead to despair and crime. We must do all we can to improve educational and employment opportunities. Once we retire to Dominica I intend to volunteer my knowledge and experience to teach anyone who wants to learn.