Peter EspeutONCE UPON a time there was a small country with a big crime problem, and the Prime Minister decided to take some serious steps to reduce it. And he decided to make a speech to the nation; and this is what he said:
"My countrymen and women. Every resident of our fair land knows that we are now experiencing a plague of crime, such that few of us feel safe in our homes or places of business. There are hundreds of illegal guns in criminal hands, and for such a small country we have too many murders and shootings and robberies. Serious problems require serious solutions, and it is my sworn duty as Prime Minister to do something about it, to ensure that you the citizens of this country, feel safe and are safe.
"Gun crime in our country is not a recent phenomenon. Gun crime did not originate with my administration. I inherited a system where politics and guns are closely related. I am not proud of this association. I myself have never used guns as a political tool in my constituency, but I know that there are those in my party - and in the Opposition who have done so, and I am not proud of it. We politicians have created monsters!
Political supporters to whom guns were given to create political advantage, have turned these guns on civil society for their own personal advantage. They are out of control, and are threatening the very democracy we are vowed to defend. They also threaten the health and stability of our economy, not just our fragile and fickle tourism industry, but manufacturing as well, since it drives up the cost of doing business, and creates a climate of insecurity and uncertainty. It is time to put a stop to it!
"I know that because of the seriousness of this national crisis, there are hundreds of thousands of you listening to this broadcast to hear the measures I am going to announce to bring this orgy of crime to an end. I know that many of you listeners are deeply pessimistic, since you have heard many anti-crime speeches before. Over the years you have heard announcements of the formation of special paramilitary strike squads with catchy names like the Skating Squad, the Scooter Squad, the Tricycle Squad, the Erosion Squad, Operation Insipid and the Caustic Squad; and maybe you expect me to announce another squad with a fancy name. But I won't! We have had enough of those, and crime has continued to increase. I do not believe that the real perpetrators of gun crime will be easily caught by roving bands of heavily armed policemen. What we need is a fundamentally new approach!
"The first thing to do is to break the link between politics and guns. No gunman must feel that he has the protection of anyone in public office, as has happened in the past. I have discussed this matter within my party and we hope the Opposition will walk with us on this one. We on the government side have agreed that from henceforth, no gunman, and no person who hugs up any gunman will be welcome in our party. It means that we have to fight elections fairly and decently. That is how it is done in civilised countries. It may be that some are unwilling to change the way they have been conducting their politics, and to them I say, from henceforth there is no room for you here. We may have walked side-by-side in the past; but if you are going to continue to hug up gunmen, then we will walk together no more. I advise you to resign now, or prepare to face the full force of the law.
"The second thing we have to do is to get the illegal guns off the street. I have asked those on our side of the House and I hope those on the other side will follow suit to pass the word around on the street to hand-in the guns by the end of the month.
Independent enquiry
"From now on there will be no political protection for gun criminals. We take getting these illegal guns off the street so seriously that our party executive has agreed that after the deadline of the end of the month has passed, anyone among us with a gun will be reported to the police. It will be the patriotic thing to do, and we will make an example of them. In effect, what I am doing tonight is declaring war on illegal guns and those who continue to use them.
"The third thing we have decided to do is to strengthen the relationship between the police and the public by requiring that our police force treat every resident of this country with respect. Law-abiding citizens will not come forward to give information to the police if they fear brutality at the hands of the police. From now on, any member of the force who shoots anyone will have to face an independent enquiry, and will have to answer to criminal charges for any wrongdoing. The police are civilians like anyone else, and are not above the law. It is a unanimous decision of the Cabinet that there should be a policy of 'Zero Tolerance' when it comes to illegal police shootings. It is a scandal that some of our citizens are more afraid of the police who swear an oath to protect them than of criminals!
"The fourth thing to do is to strengthen the Criminal Investigation Department. Rather than invest money in a new paramilitary squad what we have decided to do is to expand the forensic laboratory, to obtain new DNA and GC-MS equipment which can identify a criminal from a drop of blood or a scab of skin, or from a paint scraping, or soil on his shoes. We have decided to increase the number of detectives at each station, and we will expand our training programme for these sleuths to include more modern methods, so that more crimes will be solved and not just 'cleared-up'.
"My fellow countrymen and women, I want history to record me as the Prime Minister who brought an end to political gangsterism and tribalism in this country. Yes, we have a right to support the political party of our choice, but in a civilised manner. We must debate the issues and base our party support on the morality of the manifesto and on the honesty of the personalities, not on the distribution of scarce benefits and political spoils.
"I hope you will all join with me in this important and sacred task. It is time for a change!"
Peter Espeut is a sociologist and executive director of an environment and development NGO.
