Forrester J Carroll hits out on Ingraham government's crime policy

6
2001

crimeturnquest

<<< Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest [R]and Commissioner of Police Reginald Ferguson [L].

Dear Editor,

Just what is the government doing about this crime wave, which is about to drown us? Is there a plan in place to address it? Wasn’t the new commissioner the right man for the job and wasn’t he supposed to have had, all the solutions? From where I sit, it seems like commissioner Ferguson doesn’t have a clue as to where he should begin.

Tommy Turnquest, in a Nassau Guardian front-page article today (25th August), inferred that crime only escalated within the last six weeks and that prior to six weeks ago we were doing, no so badly. Have you ever heard of such hogwash in all your lives? Crime has been an escalating problem since the FNM took office, May 2nd 2007 and hasn’t slowed one bit. I don’t know where Tommy has been living, since he has been getting paid to do the job as the Minister responsible for solving crime in the country. The ratio for gruesome murders, as of August, stands consistently at about eight per month or at least two per week. At this rate, at year’s end, the country would have recorded one hundred and four(104) murders or 28-30% increase over 2008. Figures like these are not to be taken lightly, as Minister Turnquest seems to be doing. He stated that by the end of August, the police are expected to report on the immediate strategies they are taking, in an effort to address the crime problem; really Mr. Minister? Well, tell us, what have they been doing since you took charge of that institution almost three years ago? What has the new commissioner, who was supposed to have all the answers, been doing since he took control many months ago? Caesar out partying, while Rome is burning?

The Force is demoralized, Mr. Turnquest, and the blame for this sad state of affairs rests squarely at the doorsteps of your Free National Movement government. Police Officers are lacking motivation. They feel like, why bother work diligently and hard when, at the end of the day, with the stroke of his pen, Ingraham could give the word and all of them could be sent into forced, premature retirement. Their moral is destroyed and the FNM government, by virtue of the damage they have already done, lacks the credibility to inspire them any further and so we have a Force of almost 4000 officers who are just marking time, waiting for their names to be called and their separation packages to be given them.

I am aware that the commissioner does not command the respect of the force, neither the respect of the officers serving under his command. They tell me that he is a very crude and disgusting bully who is unapproachable, and who doesn’t know how to deal with his men and women in uniform. He is suspected within the force, I am told, of allegedly destroying the evidence relating to the illegal possession of a gun, involving a close member of his family who, I am told further, was allegedly arrested for the same. Believe me, true or false, this disjointed, demoralized police force, under the command of this disliked commissioner of police, commanded by this very naive minister of national security (Tommy Turnquest) will not succeed in doing anything, meaningful, toward finding any kind of solutions to the country’s crime dilemma; not in the sorry state they are in.

Thank you

Forrester J Carroll J.P
Freeport, Grand Bahama
26TH August 2009

______________________

EDITOR’s NOTE:

What is amazing here in The Bahamas is the fact that the leadership of the police can come out to hold a press conference and with all the members of the wutless media present, yet, none of the following questions were presented.

1) Commissioner/Minister what is the current status of Andre Birbal – the man who molested more than 20 boys at a school in Eight Mile Rock?

2) Commissioner/Minister what is the current status of Madison Pugh? Has the extradition request filed yet and will she be returning back to the Bahamas?

3) Commissioner/Minister what is the current status on the 15 year-old who was allegedly MURDERED in the South Beach Police station? Was it really Murder or Suicide?

4) Commissioner/Minister what was the results of the final autopsy report on the 5 month old baby, which was due to be disclosed one month ago, yet nothing is said to date on the matter?

5) Commissioner/Minister is their division in the HIGH COMMAND of the RBPF? A police staff association chairman believes it is what say you? The rift between officers so bad, one senior officer delivered a pimp slap to another during a meeting of the high command. Also, are officers not under investigation cellphones tapped?

We could go one and on all day, but when you have the WUTLESS media in the room, they are so WUTLESS, all they did was come out of that HIGH LEVEL press conference to spew more lies!

WHAT A DISGRACE! WHAT A DUTTY DISGRACE! The country is SWIMMING IN WUTLESSNESS!

Bahamas Press/Editor

6 COMMENTS

  1. zero tolerance is nothing new if somone had to think up dat old strategy which arguably doesnt work they need to quit yesterday crime needs a multifaceted approach i gat an idea lets fix the court system first

  2. You cant ask questions of the COP as Tommy T has to clear it first6 what a wuthless joke.Now we see why the Govt try to pass an amendment to the Policve Act but did not hold a referendum to change the Constitution.This crew is so wuthless they are trying to undermine the Constitution as far as the Police and other civil servants are concerned.It is a disgrace when we have a lost COP at a press conference and he puts forward nothing to fight crime.I have seen no abundance of Policemen/women on the streets since the Minister had his press conference.All talk no action.

  3. Dear Mr. Editor,

    There is something that seriously bothers me about this whole “fight against crime”. On any given day, we can hear reports in the media on boats intercepted, filled with illegals trying to make their way onto our shores. We can also hear news reports in the media of the large drug seizures at certain entry points such as the Container Port Grand Bahama. Mr. Editor, what we cannot seem to hear, is reports of guns and ammunition seizures as these items enter our country.

    Certainly, the discoveries of one or two guns on the streets are much appreciated. However, we need to know how these guns are getting onto our shores as we already know how the drugs and the illegal immigrants are getting here. Since The Bahamas has never been in the business of manufacturing weapons, can the Commissioner of Police please explain how is it that a 16-year old can purchase a gun and ammunition on the streets just as fast and as easy as he can purchase a can of soda.

    Indeed we know that large majority of serious crimes are being committed with firearms then I would expect that the serious emphases would be placed on not only getting the guns off of the streets but also stopping them from ever actually reaching there!

    • The United States had this same problem. In the early 20th century J. Hoover made certain to weed out corruption. The FBI began fight bank robbers who walked into banks in midday heist, taking out tellers bankers and customers. The Americans centralized its policing cross country. They created a hybrid system to battle lawlessness and violence created by the few. We in the Bahamas needs to do the same, but where is the vision? How can we create such a crime fighting arm, when the force and every other branch of government is now politicized?

      Bahamas Press/Editor

  4. Bahamas Press, you all need to be hired by one of these wutless media houses so that, you all can be at those press conference, so that the questions can be asked.

    They tell you beforehand which questions they will answer anyway, and the reporters and the wutless media houses abide by there request.

    News is staged and scripted and paid for, here and around the world.

    Oh, if it was only possible for all people to be present to witness for themselves what is going on, them maybe will be more educated.

    So, people I urgre all of you to read, read, read anything and everything and read between the lines and question what you read and what persons say.

  5. What is amazing here in The Bahamas is the fact that the leadership of the police can come out to hold a press conference and with all the members of the wutless media present, yet, none of the following questions were presented.

    1) Commissioner/Minister what is the current status of Andre Birbal – the man who molested more than 20 boys at a school in Eight Mile Rock?

    2) Commissioner/Minister what is the current status of Madison Pugh? Has the extradition request filed yet and will she be returning back to the Bahamas?

    3) Commissioner/Minister what is the current status on the 15 year-old who was allegedly MURDERED in the South Beach Police station? Was it really Murder or Suicide?

    4) Commissioner/Minister what was the results of the final autopsy report on the 5 month old baby, which was due to be disclosed one month ago, yet nothing is said to date on the matter?

    5) Commissioner/Minister is their division in the HIGH COMMAND of the RBPF? A police staff association chairman believes it is what say you? The rift between officers so bad, one senior officer delivered a pimp slap to another during a meeting of the high command. Also, are officers not under investigation cellphones tapped?

    We could go one and on all day, but when you have the WUTLESS media in the room, they are so WUTLESS, all they did was come out of that HIGH LEVEL press conference to spew more lies!

    WHAT A DISGRACE! WHAT A DUTTY DISGRACE! The country is SWIMMING IN WUTLESSNESS!

    Bahamas Press/Editor

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