Officials make list about fighting crime

| 25/10/2009

(CNS): Top level officials say they have identified ten measures to tackle the escalating levels of crime according to a release from government information services. Follow the commissioner’s meeting with members of the Legislative Assembly last Monday, another high-level meeting was reportedly held on Friday (23 October) called by the governor where government ministers, top civil servants and the commissioner made a list. Deputy Chief Secretary Franz Manderson said the meeting focused on gun and violent crime as well as youth at risk.

The group will meet again in about a month to reviewprogress made on the action points and agree on the next steps, Manderson said.

The meeting took place against a backdrop of community outrage over the number of murders and shooting incidents in the country over the last few months as well as the number of robberies where weapons have been used from women mugged in parking lots to day time heists.

With few reported arrests and limited information about the progress of the murder investigations as well as the armed robberies the elected government has also been calling for the establishment of a specialist task force to tackle the problem.

At this latest meeting the officials reportedly agreed on the following points:

Provide more resources for the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, and convene a special task force to focus on gun and other serious crime.

Work with the business community to install closed-caption television (CCTV) coverage on their premises, in order to help identify and convict criminals.

Review licensing requirements for nightclubs and other licensed premises, in order to reduce the chances of those locations becoming the scenes of serious criminal activity.

Urge the public to volunteer information and testify in court, while making every effort to ensure confidentiality and protect witnesses.

Consider changes to law and trial procedures that will protect witnesses and prevent jury intimidation.

Modernise the Police Law to better equip police officers to deal with emerging trends in criminality

Immediately begin using electronic tagging in prescribed circumstances.

Follow up the 2006 Crime Survey and subsequent recommendations, through a government-wide effort spearheaded by Community Affairs Minister Mike Adam. The intention is to provide a constructive future for at-risk youth, and to prevent as many as possible from becoming the next generation of criminals.

Establish, as soon as resources allow, a facility for juveniles that would separate them from older offenders, and meet the requirements of the new Constitution.

Establish a criminal justice steering committee, chaired by the Attorney General that would develop a comprehensive strategy to reduce crime. In addition to the ten points agreed during the meeting, the committee would speak to other aspects of crime prevention, alternative sentences, parole, rehabilitation, and community involvement.

 

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  1. Bologna says:

    Another list! That shelf must be getting pretty full. Where will we start putting all the good idea next?

  2. Anonymous says:

    That’s a lot of very HIGH PAID civil service Management….to make a list??

    Guess we all feel much safer now….NOT! And the criminals must be shaking in their boots now…

  3. Anonymous says:

    unless customs search every single bag that comes in, it is easy to bring in guns in your luggage, start on the front line and start scanning or searching every bag, maybe they will find other things as well

  4. Anonymous says:

    I must concurr Anon 22:09 other than the new players in this commitee How can some of these people have the nerve when it was under their watch what have we been paying them for.How can you have a meeting and not include the persons that it most affects the public what about our input. Once again we are back down that same old road giving even more power to the chosen few. When will we learn Cayman we are repeating the same old mistakes

  5. no longer care says:

    Hey!!  Make 2 list. That way everyone can get twice as much for their money.  The real joke is that everyone still expects someone else to solve their problems for them.

  6. Anonymous says:

    Most of the crime here is committ by our own people.  Yes, we have a few expats that committ crime too.   So put some focus on our own people.

     

    • Anonymous says:

      Reply to 9:27.

      Looks like that’s what the police did Friday morning with raids

      in West Bay.

      So what happens?  Homeowner cries..”poor me” boo hoo and

      even gets a spread in a local paper..Neighbors are out raged

      about the incident.  The fact police didn’t find

      anything means nothing…They wouldn’t have targeted those

      residences without good reason. 

      People complain when police do nothing and when they try to

      catch these guys there is still complains……….

       

       

      • Anonymous says:

        Agree with this fully. The police cannot solve crime with their hands tied behind their backs. They must be allowed to follow leads and unfortunately sometimes this will lead to accusations of harsh treatments etc like in the west bay busts.

        To be fair the guy had a history of gun and violent crimes so shouldn’t have been allowed to bring up kids in that environment anyway. Just because he doesn’t keep weapons at home doesn’t mean he doesn’t keep them elsewhere. Caymanian society is already broken when it allows kids to live with known dealers and gangsters but then complains when they are upset by a police raid.

        Any raid has to take place quickly and with maximum efficiency like this one. Simply knockint he door and sipping tea on the doorstep allow criminals th chance to hide gear, flush drugs down the toilet or hide them on the children or worse, to come out shooting using the kids as human shields.

        Innocent people with clean records that stay out of trouble and don’t mix with other criminals have nothing to fear. However if you hang out with gangs, carry weapons and deal drugs you have to be prepared for your door to get kicked in.

  7. Anonymous says:

    This is almost a joke. At this late stage we are just gettingtogether a "committee" to look at escalating crime in Cayman? And, the players are all government officials responsible for law enforcement. One must question what the heck have they been doing prior to this to allow crime to get out of hand as it has, now we must trust the same lot to give us solutions. Give me a break! No wonder the criminals are laughing in our faces.

  8. Anonymous says:

    How about setting up sting operations?

    • Backstroke says:

      Sting operations, committes, all is good,but RCIP. why not get a few people from the community that know something about who,what and where these people are. The people know and some will even assist, so why do you think that it has to be civil servants alone that can assist.Come out of your tower and get to know the people on the streets.We are tired of the assaults,robberies etc.

  9. Caymanian to the bone says:

     I’m sure this will annoy many but why doesn’t immigration send officers to the banks, C&W and the money transfer places on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings and check ID’s to make sure all have a work permit if they’re not Caymanian. And if someone is a visitor but is sending money to another country have them prove where it came from.  

    Anyone found here illegally should be sent back to their home country immediately (no court case, no imprisonment, just straight on a the next plane home) after they have identified who was employing them of course. The employer should then be fined, prosecuted, whatever but they should be held responsible. After all the illegals wouldn’t be working if someone didn’t employ them!