ACTING Commissioner of Police Clayton Fernander is eager to show the successes police are securing on the street.
Yesterday, he showed off some of the weapons seized recently by officers on the streets.
Some of them are truly frightening – such as the high-powered rifle that had two drums of ammunition attached to it, each capable of holding 100 rounds.
As he said: “You are looking at 200 rounds. Just with this weapon. That’s over 200 lives because this is a very dangerous weapon. As we said, a high-powered rifle.”
That these successes are welcome cannot be overstated – the damage such a weapon could inflict is the stuff of nightmares.
We have been fortunate in The Bahamas that we have not seen mass shooting incidents such as have become almost commonplace in the United States, but this is the kind of weapon capable of inflicting mass casualties in a small amount of time, and it is better off the streets.
It was one of a number of weapons showcased by the Acting Commissioner – but more crucially the question is, of course, how such weapons continue to get here in the first place, and what we can do to stem the flow, stopping them before they get into the hands of criminals, or worse, being used against civilians and police.
Mr Fernander is aware of that need too – saying that “hands are on the pulse” when it comes to intercepting weapons, and highlighting the relationship with law enforcement counterparts in the US.
That is the good side of things – but as we have seen, the country is still experiencing killings.
We must applaud the work of officers when victories such as these are achieved – but we must also give officers the tools they need to stop the weapons at source. That may be resources in terms of manpower and equipment – but it may also be changes in legislation to increase the penalties for possession of such weapons.
There is no excuse for the kind of double ammunition barrel attached to a high-powered weapon. No one needs that for anything except criminal activity.
So perhaps we might revisit our laws to make it clear anyone in possession of such a weapon can expect a long stretch in prison.
Every weapon such as that has one purpose alone – crime. All it can do is cause havoc in our society, and end lives. Why should we show any mercy in sentencing when it comes to people in possession of such a weapon?
So well done, officers, in getting these weapons off the streets. Now what can we do to get the criminals in possession of them off the streets too?
Court wrangles
The length of time that court cases drag on through The Bahamas’ legal system is sometimes mind-boggling.
In yesterday’s Tribune, we reported on a lawsuit that stretched back 17 years in a wrangle over disputed fees at a condo complex.
Today, we report on a dispute over the ownership of accreted land that goes back to the last Ingraham administration.
Worse, Justice Indra Charles’ verdict suggests that the government’s stance in the case contradicted its own surveyors.
It is hard to fathom quite why this case was pursued at such length with such flimsy supporting evidence – but it sums up the difficulties so many citizens find themselves in.
Imagine being held back from your plans and goals for so long as you wait for a resolution. Worse, for the nation, imagine those investors outside looking in wondering why on Earth they would get involved with such a system if it’s just going to tangle them up in court dates and red tape for years on end.
Untangling the knots of our legal system would do the world of good for our country – both financially and on the front line against crime. We’re sure officers who find those they arrest still going through the court system years later would agree, including for those criminals being caught in the current crackdown on weapons.
Justice delayed serves no one.
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