The Tribune

SAFE & SECURE

By GAMAL NEWRY

A
t the time of writing this I am at the 58th American Society for Industrial Security Conference here in the ‘City of Brotherly Love’, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It has been a busy first two days, with classes starting from Sunday, and we are still at it.

It is always good when like-minded professionals come together to share, and almost feels like church. Forums like these remind you there are many shared concerns, opportunities and threats. A collaborative approach benefits all stakeholders and, more importantly, reminds us that we are all in this together.

In his book ‘Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty’, Harvey Mackey stress the importance of building good relationships before you need to draw on them, essentially the power of the network.

I am reminded that this holds fast for my profession as well. That is why events like these are so refreshing and energising.

Every security professional should ensure they maintain a professional network that is global in its perspective.

This is important on many fronts, because as much as we would like to think we are unique, the Bahamas is much like any other part of the world. Sitting at lunch this past Sunday it was interesting to listen to my counterparts from around the globe speak regarding their concerns about the increased violence that is plaguing their respective countries. No one, it seems, is immune from this wave of violence. It appears that young men all over the world are becoming more violent ,and have disrespect and disregard for life.

So, what of the male in our society? What has gone wrong? Many suggestions were posed, be it the lack of a father figure, the increase of what was termed ultra-liberalism or materialism. How do we correct and change the mindset?

Clearly, some parents have failed or are not equipped, so civic, church, and government must step in to save the country. This was the consensus agreed upon by over six representative nations. Sounds very familiar

It appears that we have the answers but are afraid to act on them. As we spoke on this topic on a cool Sunday afternoon, there came the roar of motorcycles by the dozens in downtown Philly. I smiled to myself: ‘Mudda sick, this Nassau aye’. But just as our society has embraced this Sunday afternoon show of mechanical muscle so, too, is the fact that the increase in violent crime is not unique to the Bahamas.

Sitting at this summit, I am reminded that crime and violence is relative. As some of us complained about the loud, disruptive noise of the bikes, others got up to take photos of this spectacle.

‘Comparative Generalism’, is a concept I regularly teach, as we too often over exaggerate the bad by making all-encompassing comprehensive statements that are not real and fuel fear. It would appear that only Nassau is experiencing crime, and the rest of the Bahamas is not. This is simply quantified by the fact that New Providence, not really Nassau, has the greater proportion of the population.

Nevertheless, when we see cities like New York, Kingston and London, with declining crime statistics, we have to ask ourselves what we are doing wrong. In London, a city with over seven million people, in the last 10 years the murder rate has dropped to half of what it was. London, interestingly enough, attributes this to a better response by paramedics (and here I thought that it was an aggressive crime prevention strategy by the police). Essentially, if medical response is improved upon, that potential murder victim only becomes a victim of assault or attempted murder.

So, can it be said that a lack of proper medical response to these shootings and stabbings may have, in some way, contributed to the increased murder rate in the Bahamas?

Perhaps this is a play on the numbers, but I would say ‘well played indeed’. This really speaks to looking at the whole forest as opposed to just focusing on a few trees, and being caught up in the emotion and sensationalism. Have we considered the response time of ambulances? Perhaps paramedics can ride with police officers, or government-operated clinics can remain open until 12am?

But wait. Other jurisdictions have increased the amount of school time for known delinquents. Some were made to do community service, and in another country authorities banned the playing of violent video games by persons under the age of 15.

There was talk of curfews for persons under the age of 21, and everyone had to have some form of ID. Drastic measures, some say, but I am certain many more of us would say ‘desperate times’. As the echo of the motorbike gangs continued to rumble and echo around the tall building in this historic city, I could not help but think of my historic little city and my country.

These innovative ideas speak to determined societies that realise crime is not a political problem; it is a national problem. Being tough on crime must be more than a saying, but a state of being. New, comprehensive ideas that go beyond the police are clearly needed. We know this, yet we continue to ‘double’ our efforts and have ‘zero tolerance’. Instead, tactics must be focused on the causes, not the resultant factors. These conclusions were applicable to any one of the six countries represented at this Sunday lunch. We must, then, be in good company. Sadly, none of us are happy about the state of affairs developing in our home lands, and we all agreed that based on the present conditions the next 20 years will see even worse global trends as it relates to crime and violence.

NB: Gamal Newry is the president of Preventative Measures, a loss prevention and asset protection training and consulting company, specialising in policy and procedure development, business security reviews and audits, and emergency and crisis management.

Comments can be sent to PO Box N-3154 Nassau, Bahamas, e-mail gnewry@gmail.com or visit us at www.preventativemeasures.org