By TANEKA THOMPSON
Tribune News Editor
tmthompson@tribunemedia.net
MORE than two years after coming into office with the campaign promise to reduce violent crime, Prime Minister Perry Christie has said it may have been “unwise” for him to “blame” the Free National Movement for the country’s crime problem while in opposition.
He also appeared to express some dissatisfaction with the Royal Bahamas Police Force, saying Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade and his team must understand the “stake” politicians have in crime reduction.
Mr Christie’s comments came in the first part of a pre-taped interview with State of Affairs, which was broadcast on ZNS on Monday night.
This also comes after 122 murders were recorded in 2014 and three people were killed in the first weekend of the New Year.
Mr Christie said his government is focused on new crime fighting strategies, however, he said he could not speak about some of them in detail.
“But I’ll tell you this, I really hope that the commissioner of police and his colleagues come to understand that the political directorate has a stake in what is taking place. That, just as I blamed the FNM and maybe unwisely, but as I blamed them, I take it that I have an obligation to the Bahamian people to provide a solution (to crime) because I advocated it.”
In January 2014, Mr Christie said he would not have his legacy “tied to a total reliance on the Royal Bahamas Police Force and the leadership of that force.”
At the time, then-FNM Chairman Darron Cash described this as the prime minister throwing Mr Greenslade “under the bus.”
In Monday’s broadcast, Mr Christie said his government has given the police force equipment and technology to aid the crime fight.
“I have given police officers, as the minister of finance, over 200 new officers since we came into power. We have classes in existence I think to that amount. I want to ensure that we do not fail in being able to smother the crime and criminal activity because we don’t have sufficient men.”
When asked earlier about the crime problem, Mr Christie said murders in New Providence and offenders getting bail continue to challenge his administration.
“. . .Even though one can argue that we have improvement in crime statistics, in terms of killings it is just a horrible kind of existence out there,” he said.
“We know, for example, that a lot of it is done by people who have been let out on bail and we do know the constitutional requirements to have people tried in a period of three years.
“The numbers have grown so high that. . .my government decided, and it should be implemented this month, to put 10 courts into existence at the same time. (We have also amended) the laws for jury selection to enable jurors to come from the (Family) Islands, to put the judicial system in a position where it can remain current with criminals and crime, and charging people and having trials done.”
He also said his administration will be more “aggressive” in integrating Urban Renewal 2.0 in the crime fight.
He said his government is considering taking young men, who have problems getting a job, involved in something similar to a voluntary national service as a means to get them off the street.
On the controversial National Intelligence Agency, he said legislation will be presented in the House of Assembly this month to legalise the entity.
Comments
Cobalt 9 years, 3 months ago
Awwww..... I see!! So after the PLP government lambasted the FNM with billboards blaming them for our crime crisis..... now they want to curtail and rescind their statements since it is abundantly clear that they have no solution to the crime problem either!!! Boy Perry.... you an deez sleazy PLP is sumtin else!!! Y'all rile-up deez bunch a stupid, illiterate, ignorant, dumb Bahamians wit all kinna false promise an loud music!! Nah y'all can't deliver on one damn promise y'all make!!! Boy y'all Bahamians fool, hear!?!?!?!? If I didn't have my integrity and morals in tack..... I woulda been a politician and rob all ah yinna out ya money too!!! Y'all too damn stupid man!!!
John 9 years, 3 months ago
If you see MAY come and CARNIVAL come and the additional courts are not up and running then you know this government is not serious on crime. It it is not just a matter of bringing criminals to justice but saving this country from the onslaught of criminal activity. Saving young men from being the victims of murder or the one who becomes the killer. Drugs and gangs play a major role in the number of murders in this country and something has to be done to curb these activities. Plans must be put in place to mordernise the prison, not for the sake of persons housed there but for those who work there. Criminals are becoming more violent and are much younger today and so rehabilitation safety and long term stays must be factors considered. A second prison on another island may also be an option to consider.
TheMadHatter 9 years, 3 months ago
So the 10 courts will be open this month? Or even by Feb 28th? That would be a miracle.
Also what about a new jail in Andros to take on the increased number of prisoners that these Courts will create?
How about a boys school and a girls school in Andros to HELP minor offenders to gain skills in plumbing and welding and car body repair, refrigeration etc. This might cost like $20 million a year - but so what? We are losing waaaaayyy more than that due to tourists choosing not to come here, and also the police wasting gas and salaries every week rounding up the same people
So is he saying that the Courts are letting them out? Or that Greenslade ain't catching them. I see the Commish or Police and his people working hard every day catching the same people they caught the week before. Then the following week they catch them again.
Is Mr. Christie afraid that if he makes new jail space and opens those hidden 10 new Courts, that he will have to lay-off police officers and will then be the first and only country in the world to lay off policemen?
Just like the old Beatles song "She came in through the bathroom window..." LOL.
TheMadHatter
John 9 years, 3 months ago
I guess you take it for a joke..ha ha ha!
kairosmatt 9 years, 3 months ago
I can't even see this man's face without needing to vomit. A drunken baboon throwing darts at a typewriter would come up with better speeches and policies.
If the Bahamas does not get rid of him (and that criminal Phillip Coward Davis) then this country, as a whole, deserves what it gets: economic failure, poverty, and ganstas eating everyone and themselves.
Of course by then, it will be someone else's fault. White Foreigners! Haitians! Not our blessed Bahamian leaders.
Sickening.
ThisIsOurs 9 years, 3 months ago
He also appeared to express some dissatisfaction with the Royal Bahamas Police Force, saying Commissioner of Police Ellison Greenslade and his team must understand the “stake” politicians have in crime reduction
Say what? Until Shane Gibson is asked to step down, there is nothing to say about this administration's "stake" in crime reduction. Stomping Out Corruption 101
The_Oracle 9 years, 3 months ago
But I am confused, the Political class has taught the youth every trick in the dirty book, they have led by example, cultivated them in their own image, Are we not happy with this? Blame Elliston ? No, you may throw him under the bus, but the problem will still be stuck to you. It is your Legacy.
kairosmatt 9 years, 3 months ago
This is EXACTLY correct. Its is sickening how criminal Perry and the Coward Davis are. Also, any country with a sense of justice would have Leslie Miller in jail by now-he doesn't even bother hiding his treachery, he boasts about it.
What else can they expect their follower to do? How do they think the next generation will behave?
ThisIsOurs 9 years, 3 months ago
I suspect the statement is to make someone think twice about erecting billboards while HE is prime minister. I have no doubt if given a chance they would do it again, probably do it bigger. Why? Just take a look at what they're doing with their "second chance" now. Shane Gibson heads NIB, one of the biggest cash cows in the country
Publius 9 years, 3 months ago
True. He previously said he never has regrets about anything he does during an election campaign. In political speak, that means whatever it takes to win, I'm fully prepared to do, because the only consequence that matters, is winning.
themessenger 9 years, 3 months ago
Unfortunately for the rest of us the winners in this case are all losers................
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