The Tribune

THERE is a harsh reality behind the statistics of murder that is rarely seen in all its brutal truth.

Read Richard Coulson’s column today on page eight and he’ll give you a glimpse from his days as a lawyer in New York.

He talks of how the police recognise when a shooting is of an innocent – or as a result of criminals turning on their own.

As he saw, in such cases, the investigation was perfunctory, the paperwork signed and the police moved on. The family of the victim mourned by only those closest to them, but that was all.

It’s an experience our own reporters share. Some crime scenes have a resigned air from investigators, others have a feel of an urgent need to find the shooter. When it’s the former, you know the police might recognise the victim from previous encounters, especially in a community as small as ours.

We hope that doesn’t affect their professionalism in finding a killer – after all, that killer may spark a cycle of retribution, and we are encouraged when suspects are quickly brought to court after a shooting. But we also recognise that in other shootings, the police presence is stepped up significantly and it is clear to see the incidents that attract more urgency than others.

The police are the first to be blamed when crime spikes. What are you doing to stop this, goes the cry. But what are we doing to prevent it from starting?

Police officers aren’t there to tackle poverty. Police officers aren’t there to solve the problems of broken homes or missed education. They aren’t there in the home when a parent raises a fist to a child, or when a child is sexually abused. No police officer is sitting on watch when a young person is offered his first drug. Or his first gun.

The police have to pick up the pieces of our broken society afterwards – and when we want change, we have to be aware that it takes time. Sometimes a generation. More.

But it can be done. As Richard Coulson notes, 40 years ago New York’s crime was out of control, but now their murder rate is miniscule compared with ours.

Last year, The Bahamas had 91 murders. We have a population of around 400,000. New York had a total of 289 murders, from a population of 8.6 million. The difference is stark.

So what can we do to learn from the success of others? Again, Richard Coulson has suggestions – publishing crime maps, tough anti-gun laws, better education and more.

To that we would add that we should reach out to those jurisdictions which have had success in driving down crime, and draw on their experience.

Not every tactic will transpose to our islands, but let us be sure we know what has worked elsewhere and see if it can apply here.

One thing is certain – there will be many more nights when the call comes about another murder. That is the harsh reality we live in.

Read Richard’s column - there’s tough language at times. Don’t get angry at him for saying it, get angry that we’ve allowed the situation to become as bad as it is today.