Cast light on crime & corruption

Q: Archbishop J, how do we live with this high crime in T&T, Pt 2?

As I said in last Sunday’s column, crime is a complex issue that has thrown our nation and the region into desolation. But crime is the symptom of many intertwined social and historical strands that need urgent attention.

If we focus on the symptoms and neglect the underlying causes, we will continue into desolation and hopelessness. We need the audacity to face these underlying challenges head-on and chart a course over the next 25 years to rebuild our nation from below.

Public health issue

The Caricom Heads of Government meeting in Port of Spain in April last year declared that crime was a public health issue. This is an important approach and model for interpreting, diagnosing, and treating the ailment.

We all remember the last major public health issue—Covid-19. At that time, we saw approaches to managing the nation that we had not seen before. We were all asked to curtail our freedom to ensure the good health of all, especially the elderly. It was tough; it was frightening. It caused economic hardship for many, but it was vital for stopping the spread of a virulent disease.

At that time, we all learned that disease has R0 numbers, indicating its contagiousness. We learnt about super spreaders and about the compounding effect of disease spread.

With an R0 of 5.7, each Covid-19 patient could infect 5-6 new persons, and the calculation is compound. We learnt what we needed to do to stop the spread of the disease: wash your hands regularly, use a mask when in contact with people, boost your immune system through sunlight, exercise, vitamins, healthy eating, etc. Every citizen had to take specific actions to prevent the spread of the disease and keep society safe.

Our government did a good job leading us through this. Discipline—not part of our usual way of living—had to be practised. We checked on our neighbours and the most vulnerable. Substantial changes had to be made to our lifestyle and attitudes. Each citizen made great sacrifices for the sake of the health of all.

The Caricom heads got it. They understood the virulent nature of crime in our region and named a model for dealing with this scourge. They said: “Alarmed by the epidemic of crime and violence in the Caribbean, fuelled by illegal guns and organized criminal gangs, as a threat to our democracy and the stability of our societies.”

We have an international, regional, and national structure destabilising our nations. The declaration continued: “Convinced that the multi-faceted nature of violent crime and its pervasive effects require a robust regional response that includes a public health approach, which is an all of society strategy including family, church, academia, cultural and sports personalities, minority political parties and wider civil society is urgently required.”

First, each government promised to bring together all of society to address the persistent menace of crime. This is the first and most important point in their declaration.

Crime cannot be solved or dealt with unless we are willing to put aside our petty political, racial, class and religious differences and commit to working together to make T&T a safer place.

It requires an all-of-society approach, just like during the pandemic, when we all had to change our lifestyles and behaviours and make huge sacrifices. If we are serious about tackling crime, our egos and petty emotions must be set aside.

We need to grow up; we need to work together. This requires conversion of heart, building trust and putting the good of the nation above partisan views.

A year has passed, and I have not seen any significant attempt to bring our society together to deal with the scourge of crime. The murder rate keeps going up, and the situation is worsening.

Leadership is needed if we are to mobilise citizens to respond in an adequate way to this regional health crisis. We need the government to lead by bringing diverse groups together to chart a way forward. We are in a pandemic of crime. We need decisive leadership.

A pastoral response

The bishops of the Antilles Episcopal Conference (AEC) have asked the heads of governments to “initiate a multi-sector team with Government, Opposition, Trade Union, Business and Religious leaders, indeed all civil society, to move the declaration into action.”

Further, the bishops said, “This team should facilitate and engage in a series of conversations in the communities where there is the greatest vulnerability to begin understanding the complexity of the issues and thus charting meaningful solutions to all forms of violence.”

If read from the perspective of our diagnosis of a nation in desolation, then the prescription of the bishops is appropriate. In his 14 rules of discernment, St Ignatius recognises that when in desolation, we need to have a deeper resolve to union with Christ.

He names the Devil as the enemy of human nature. From this, we must conclude that crime in all forms is selfish and lacks respect for others and society as a whole, undermining the fabric of society and ultimately leading to the complete collapse of civility and society as a whole.

St Ignatius, in his fourth rule of discernment, says: “I call desolation … darkness of soul, disturbance in it, movement to things low and earthly, the unquiet of different agitations and temptations, moving to want of confidence, without hope, without love, when one finds oneself all lazy, tepid, sad, and as if separated from his Creator and Lord. Because, as consolation is contrary to desolation; in the same way, the thoughts which come from consolation are contrary to the thoughts which come from desolation.”

Shedding light

Evil likes secrecy. It lurks in the shadows and grows in the dark. We have to expose it and bring it into the light. In the 12th rule, St Ignatius says: “he [the Devil] acts as a licentious lover in wanting to be secret and not revealed”.

Conversations in vulnerable communities are key to resisting desolation. We need to shed light on the darkness in our communities and understand the complexities that have led us to desolation.

Could we gather in our communities and begin speaking about crime, not in a pessimistic way but by examining its root causes, asking what we can do as communities and assisting each other to be resilient in facing the challenge, not being deterred from building communities of justice and peace?

If we were to expose the many ways we are pressured into corruption by some officials in our country, that light would create a hugely different energy. It would reveal those hiding in the shadows, menacing good citizens who need government services.

Because they believe they have control, they attempt to corrupt us by making legitimate business extremely difficult. Police officers too often use excessive force and break the law, acting as a law unto themselves. Gangs in our communities intimidate residents, making them feel powerless.

The only way a handful of corrupt people can hold a nation ransom is if the good citizens choose to remain silent, act as if they are powerless, and so allow evil to flourish.

There are far more of us than there are them. Why do we remain silent? Why do we allow evil to flourish? Why do we play powerless in the face of a corrupt minority?

This is our country; if you think it is bad now, it will be a lot worse unless each of us, as citizens of this beloved nation, stand up, choose to live right, and expose the darkness with the Light.

Key message:

Crime is a public health crisis. Solving it requires an all-of-society approach. But each of us can begin by exposing crime in the complex ways it occurs in our communities and wherever we encounter it.

Action Step:

Join a neighbourhood watch group if there is one or begin a group if there is none. Bring your community together to shed light on the darkness. If you encounter officials acting in illegal ways, speak out! Expose it.

Scripture reading:

Matthew 10:26–32